Cody Garbrandt (photo via UFC)

By FCF Staff

Some observers were surprised when the UFC decided to give Cody Garbrandt an immediate rematch with TJ Dillashaw, but “No Love” says that decision was made, because the promotion wants him to be champion.

Garbrandt faced his former teammate, turned rival, at UFC 217 last November, and lost the bantamweight title via a second round stoppage. On Saturday night, however, at UFC 227, Garbrandt will battle Dillashaw again.

While talking to the media recently, Garbrandt discussed his campaign to fight Demetrious Johnson, as well as the UFC’s decision to give him an immediate rematch with Dillashaw (quote via MMA Fighting):

“I ended up hitting up Sean Shelby and Dana White, saying I’m gonna knock T.J. out and then go down and fight Mighty Mouse. That was my original thought. T.J. stole that from me, stole everything from me. If the UFC wanted that fight to prosper, they would have made that fight happen. They don’t want that to happen. They already moved on. They want me to be the champ, that’s why the gave me the rematch. They called me and offered me the fight in March, T.J. turned it down and made all these excuses and I had to wait all the way until August to fight him. I was ready to go way before that. I told my manager, ‘I’m ready to fight. I don’t want to have my return postponed.’”

Johnson is also fighting at UFC 227, as the flyweight champ will take on Henry Cejudo. That bout is also a rematch, “Mighty Mouse” stopped Cejudo in 2016.

UFC 227 will take place in Los Angeles, California.