It sounds like hyperbole, but to watch Dillashaw's first performance against the former UFC bantamweight champion, it may not be. T.J. Dillashaw beat Barao pillar to post for twenty two and a half minutes at UFC 173 back in May, to become the first UFC champion to come out of Team Alpha Male. It was a career making performance, a one sided beating of one of the world's most dominant fighters, still in the prime of his career. And its a win that seems to have galvanized Dillashaw's feeling that he is unquestionably the top dog in his division. He recently spoke to Sexto Round about his upcoming rematch:
I've watched the fight a couple times and everytime I get nervous before I watch it, even though I know how it's going to go down. And it's just amazing; I couldn't of wrote a better story myself. It was perfect.
But, beyond still sounding a little caught up in the moment, Dillashaw came across as entirely confident in his ability to win the rematch:
You know, I knew I had the gamepland and the athleticism to beat Barao the way I did. Obviously I expected a really tough fight, a war. Everything went super smooth for me, so yeah, I guess I expected a little tougher fight.
Oh, I mean, no matter what I'm going to have to do something different. I want to become a better fighter every fight. That's not my best performance, I'm going to get even better from that fight. And, yeah, I'm gonna win 10 out of 10 times. That's just the fact that I'm going to continue to get better. I'm going to be better than I even was when he faces me again.
Honestly, improvement or no, if Dillashaw is able to repeat the performance he used to beat Barao the first time, it's very difficult to see how the former champ could hope to beat him.