Cody Garbrandt releases his “hit list,” and it’s full of big names

Last month, in the co-main event of the stacked UFC 207, Cody Garbrandt dished out a substantial upset, defeating Dominick Cruz by unanimous decision to win the UFC bantamweight title.

Though Garbrandt has issued several callouts in the weeks since this win – including an attempt to goad Cruz into an immediate rematch – we now know that his next challenge will be provided by former champion TJ Dillashaw. Dillashaw, who he used to train with at Team Alpha Male, will serve as his opposing coach on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter. From there, the two talented bantamweights will throw down with the divisional crown on the line – though a date and location for this scrap has not yet been confirmed.

Now that we know who Garbrandt’s next opponent will be, he’s released an official “hit list” detailing his hopes for his next few matchups. He revealed this list on his official Twitter account.

https://twitter.com/Cody_Nolove/status/821621652949782528

Unsurprisingly, the first name on this list is Dillashaw. Since losing the title to Cruz via razor-close split decision in January of 2016, Dillashaw has rebounded wonderfully, scoring dominant decision defeats over top ranked foes in Raphael Assuncao and John Lineker.

Next on Garbrandt’s list is Jose Aldo, who he has already called out in recent weeks. After losing the UFC featherweight title to Conor McGregor in 2015, Aldo rebounded with a nice win over Frankie Edgar. This win would earn him the UFC interim featherweight title, which was created to keep the division moving while McGregor tested his mettle at welterweight and lightweight. Shortly after McGregor won the UFC lightweight title, he was stripped of the undisputed featherweight title, and Aldo was elevated from interim to undisputed featherweight champion. Though the Brazilian champ now finds himself in the crosshairs of Garbrandt, his next fight will likely be against streaking Hawaiian Max Holloway.

The final fighter on Garbrandt’s list is McGregor, who recently made history as the first fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two weight classes concurrently. McGregor, who now owns the lightweight title, is currently on hiatus, and is likely to return against the winner of Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov’s interim lightweight title fight sometime this year.

What do you think of this multi-part callout from Cody Garbrandt? Sound off, PENN Nation!

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on [1/18/2017].