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Dana White joked he’d deny ‘conspiracy theorist’ a title shot just to prove his ‘rigged’ remark true

Originally posted on Bloody Elbow | By Kyle Dimond | Last updated Dec 31, 2025 1:01 AM ET

A former champion was adamant that he deserved the next title shot after winning on this day in 2016.

There has been a lot of talk in recent weeks due to the UFC’s fight announcements for 2025 about who does and doesn’t deserve a title shot.

Lerone Murphy admitted that his love for MMA took a hit after he wasn’t named as Alexander Volkanovski’s next featherweight title challenger.

With his chances of finally fighting for the belt being pushed back significantly, Arman Tsarukyan recently defeated Shara Magomedov in order to keep busy without competing inside the Octagon.

Fighters arguing that they haven’t received an opportunity they’ve earned isn’t anything new, with one UFC star’s argument receiving a comical response from the promotion’s president.

Dana White joked about TJ Dillashaw’s response to not fighting for the title at UFC 207

In 2016, Dominick Cruz defeated TJ Dillashaw in his return to the Octagon to reclaim the bantamweight title after being forced to vacate his belt due to injuries.

After beating Dillashaw’s former coach, Urijah Faber, in his first title defense, his third outing of the year saw him take on another fighter who learned his craft on the mats at Team Alpha Male.

Cody Garbrandt defeated Cruz by putting in a performance that nobody saw coming in the co-main of UFC 207 on December 30.

While ‘The Dominator’ could have received a rematch, Dillashaw made it very clear that he wanted to face the winner after beating John Lineker in dominant fashion earlier in the night.

Dana White joked when recapping the event on the FOX Sports post-fight show that he might ignore the former champion despite him challenging Garbrandt, his former friend turned rival, being such an exciting prospect.

“Well, you know, TJ Dillashaw said if he doesn’t get the shot this whole thing is rigged so I think I’m going to give the rematch to Dominick Cruz just to make him right,” White said while smiling.

White went on to praise Dillashaw’s unanimous decision win over Lineker, stating that he “probably” would be next for the new champion despite labeling him a “total conspiracy theorist”.

TJ Dillashaw got what he wanted and exposed Cody Garbrandt’s flaws

Cody Garbrandt shocked the world by putting on an incredible performance to beat Dominick Cruz over five rounds at UFC 207 in Las Vegas.

Many believed that the aggressive challenger would fight too emotionally against the champion after getting fired up by the back and forth trash talking that occurred before the fight.

While this wasn’t the case on that particular night, Garbrandt’s incredibly aggressive style was a defining aspect of his back-to-back losses to TJ Dillashaw in their personal feud.

Dillashaw got the title shot that he wanted but was stripped of the belt after beating Garbrandt following a positive drug test in his champion vs champion clash with Henry Cejudo.

This article first appeared on Bloody Elbow and was syndicated with permission.

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