TJ Dillashaw refutes Cody Garbrandt’s claim he knocked him out in training - 'It didn't happen ... he's digging a hole'

Newly-crowned Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt recently made a bold claim that he has video footage of him knocking out former 135-pound division title holder, T.J. Dillashaw, during a training session at Team Alpha Male (TAM).

"I’ll spare everybody 60 bucks to buy the pay-per-view and put out the video of me knocking his ass out when I was 1-0. 1-0," Garbrandt said. "He was saying that he made me cry in practice. That motherf**ker never made me cry. I wasn’t the one looking at the ceiling, being on my back looking at the ceiling, knocked out," stated "No Love."

Now, "Viper" is calling Garbrandt's bluff, declaring on "The MMA Hour" that while he and Garbrandt have had their wars in the gym, he has never been knocked out ... ever.

"Oh, we’ve definitely thrown down," he said. "Don’t get me wrong, Cody is a tough kid. But, it’s funny for him to start talking about him knocking me out before. For one, I’ve never been knocked out. The closest was when Jon Dodson clipped me at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) Finale. And he keeps talking about that he has footage on it, and it’s hilarious because he’s digging himself a hole because if you have footage on it then put it out. It has not happened.

"I think that was the biggest mistake by talking about he has footage of it," he continued. "If he doesn’t, put it out there because it didn’t happen. And if it did, I guess I did get knocked out because I don’t remember it. Why would I be afraid for him to put it out there if it didn’t happen?"

Dillashaw had an ugly split from TAM after he left the famed camp to join Elevation Fight Team in Colorado, prompting an all-out verbal war between the two sides. While it was widely anticipated that Dillashaw would eventually face TAM leader Urijah Faber, that’s no longer the case as "California Kid" has tied a ribbon around his combat sports career.

Nevertheless, Dillashaw will have a bigger fight on his hands because he is expected to face Garbrandt for the 135-pound strap sometime this year. Indeed, the showdown will give "No Love" the chance to prove he does have the power to be the first to put Dillashaw to sleep. Or, he could simply release the video proving he already did it.