I still keenly remember Dillashaw's first fight with Barao. He was one of the biggest underdogs in UFC history at the time if I recall correctly. I had him in my mind as a skilled wrestler with sloppy kickboxing who wouldn't be stymied by the nova uniao vaunted takedown defense aka Jose Aldo and it was the best we could do with Dom Cruz sidelined by serious injury. What happened was a masterful performance so dominated and so off what was expected it almost seemed like a fluke - the after effect where people invent narrative of bad weight cuts, the flu, off night, anything, to justify the assumed reality being so thoroughly flipped.
Fast forward to a second equally convincing battering of Barao. Barao's subsequent lackluster performances let people sort of not quite shine to Dillashaw's wins over him as might have been deserved, but, his razor thin loss to Dominic Cruz showed he was and is among the elite bantamweights of all time as Dominic Cruz currently is the greatest of all time. His loss of the sent him off to dispatch top tiered guys in Assuncao and Lineker. The drama unfolding his leaving Team Alpha Male also distracted from him adding impressive notches to his bedpost while biding time to face Cody or rematch Cruz.
Last night, his decisive stoppage to regain the belt, overcoming a late first round knockdown, and the fact that Garbrandt himself blazed through solid contenders toward his title shot solidifies TJ as what he his: top 2 bantamweight discussion of all time. Cruz has those title defenses and the inaugural belt but Dillashaw has a stoppage win over a guy Cruz lost the belt to. MMA math is what it is and styles make fights, but if Dillashaw can defend the belt as many times as Cruz or more then he becomes the best bantamweight of all time.
Gotta give the man his due, I never placed stock in him early in his career. It's hard to argue with his choose to leave Team Alpha Male in retrospect. His poise, movement, wrestling, whole package has truly revolutionized since before he left TAM and in the interim. I
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