TJ's UFC record 12-3 ;(Most Wins, Stoppages, KO's in UFC BW History)
Notable wins
- Cody Garbrandt x2
- Renan Barao x2
- John Lineker
- Raphael Assuncao
People forget how much of a monster Barao was and for TJ to wreck him twice is a huge deal and should be an extra feather in the cap for the GOAT Bantamweight talk.
Dom's UFC Record 5-1 (7-1 WEC) ;(Most consecutive UFC/WEC BW title defences: 4)
Notable wins
- Urijah Faber x2
- TJ Dillashaw
- Mighty Mouse
- Joseph Benevidez x2 (WEC)
- Brian Bowles (WEC)
- Scott Jorgensen (WEC)
I know that they all weighed 135 when they fought but there sure are a lot of flyweights on Cruz's record.Not to mention The Mighty Mouse that lost to Dom has got nothing to do with Current Mighty Mouse now.And yet Mighty Mouse still outstruck Cruz back in 2011.Cruz dominated the wrestling though.
Worth noting that if the Cruz decision had gone TJ’s way (which was incredibly possible), TJ’s reign could essentially read:
Renan Barao - won the belt (KO)
Joe Soto - first defense (KO)
Renan Barao - second defense (KO)
Dominick Cruz - third defense (Decision)
Raphael Assuncao - fourth defense (Decision)
John Lineker - fifth defense (Decision)
Cody Garbrandt - sixth defense (KO)
Cody Garbrandt - seventh defense (KO)
That’s not just “bantamweight GOAT” status; that’s “all time great” status.
Obviously it’s a hypothetical, but a realistic one. If TJ had gotten the instant rematch against Cruz (which would be a fair instant rematch, in my opinion, for an exciting uber close split decision), his career could read very different if you could count Assuncao and Lineker as legit defenses.