One of the most enjoyable aspects of the Ultimate Fighter this past season was the lighthearted back and forward between Conor McGregor and Urijah Faber. Although things spilled over once or twice, there was always a healthy amount of respect between the two coaches. However, when things did get a bit tetchy, it inevitably involved T.J. Dillashaw.
The 'snake in the grass' of Faber's Team Alpha Male, Dillashaw was never McGregor's favourite person and he let Faber know that at every chance he got. After filming ended, Dillashaw did exactly what McGregor had anticipated and jumped ship to Elevation Fight Team in Colorado. With all that in mind, it's no surprise that McGregor is not high up on the California man's Christmas card list.
The bantamweight champion faces Dominick Cruz for the title in Boston this weekend and he's used his media obligations in the build up to the fight to have a good auld moan about the effect Conor McGregor has had on MMA.
While McGregor relishes 'changing the game', Dillashaw is rather less pleased with the new world order that the Dubliner has brought to the UFC. Speaking to the press this week, the bantamweight champion explained how McGregor has changed the game, for the worse according to him, for all fighters.
He's always a different person on camera than he is off it. He's smart, he's making good money. I don't really like it. I don't like the fakeness of it, I don't like the WWE aspect of the drama. I just want to be a martial artist, that's why I got into the sport, because I liked it.
I don't like that we have to do all this stuff. I feel like Conor's made a new job for us. We have to promote our own fights a lot more now than we used to because of what he's doing, how much draw he's getting to the UFC. It's a lot more work for us now.
So while McGregor is out changing how things work and making things better for himself, Dillashaw is content to sit back and whinge about a promotion that has long been proved to be inherently unfair to the fighters that generate the interest. Suffice to say, McGregor will be absolutely loving those comments.
See also: 'Conor McGregor Does Not Plan On Being In The UFC For Very Much Longer'
You can watch him have his say here, courtesy of MMA Weekly.
