21 of the biggest rivalries in MMA history [UPDATED]

TJ Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt

Although MMA is an individual sport, MMA teams are a big part of training and fighter lives. When one fighter leaves the team there can be some bad blood that forms, that was the case with our next MMA rivalry between TJ Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt.

Team Alpha Male is a well-known fight team out of Southern California. The team is run by former UFC fighter Urijah Faber and included Garbrandt and formally Dillashaw. When Team Alpha Male parted ways with longtime head coach Duane Ludwig, Dillashaw decided to follow Ludwig to Colorado and the split between him and Team Alpha Male began.

Faber and Garbrandt began trashing Dillashaw publicly in interviews and on social media. The hate between Gardrandt and Dillashaw had grown so much that a fight between the two was to be set following a season of The Ultimate Fighter in which both would coach across from each other.
While filming the show the two men grew even more angry with each other. The tension grew and even became physical at times. When filming was over the two were scheduled to meet at UFC 213 but a back injury forced Garbrandt out of the fight and it was rescheduled for UFC 217.

Dillashaw quickly took out Garbrandt with a second-round TKO to take back is lost title. Following the fight, the rivalry was far from over and Garbrandt was granted a rematch. The second fight took place nine months later at UFC 227. Different city but same outcome as Dillashaw finished Garbrandt by way of TKO again, this time in the first round.

There is still no love lost between these two fighters and their camps.

Dillashaw has since retired from the sport, in order to recover from an injury without USADA knocking on the door. Garbrandt won his first fight in years when he defeated Trevin Jones at UFC 285.