The penultimate UFC bout of 2016 will see Dominick Cruz defend the bantamweight title against Cody Garbrandt, as the two square off on Dec. 30 in the co-main event of UFC 207 in Las Vegas.

It’s a bout that has been gathering steam since May, when the undefeated Garbrandt laid waste to fellow undefeated rising star Thomas Almeida in less than three minutes at UFC Fight Night 88. The victory was an eye-opener for many who weren’t yet sold on the Team Alpha Male prospect — it was Garbrandt’s second consecutive finish and fourth straight victory since graduating to the UFC after a 5-0 start to his career on the regional circuit.

“I think [Cruz] knows that I won that fight” – Dillashaw

Three months later, after Cruz had successfully retained his title by turning back Urijah Faber for a second time at UFC 199, “No Love” delivered another impressive performance, starching veteran Takeya Mizugaki in the final preliminary card bout at UFC 202. Cruz had a bird’s eye view of the surging contender’s sudden, high-impact stoppage of the Japanese stalwart, watching the contest from the FS1 broadcast booth, where he stood enjoying an apple, listening to the 25-year-old upstart call him out.

On the post-fight show following the August 20 fight card, the bantamweight champ made it clear he was interested in sharing the Octagon with Garbrandt, eager to throw down with and — as far as he was concerned — dispatch another member of the Sacramento, California-based squad that has been an opponent factory for Cruz over the years.

In making quick work of Mizugaki and taking advantage of his time on the microphone following the win, Garbrandt solidified his place on the list of potential opponents for Cruz and the palpable tension and simmering rivalry between the two made this clash seem inevitable.

The only other option was for Cruz to run it back with former champ T.J. Dillashaw, who dropped the belt to the returning “Dominator” in January after coming out on the wrong side of a contentious split decision result in Boston. When he wasn’t granted an immediate rematch, the former Ultimate Fighter finalist sought out the next biggest fight possible and got right back into the win column, avenging a prior loss to Raphael Assuncao as part of the stacked lineup at UFC 200 in July.

After Dillashaw soundly beat the streaking Brazilian, the UFC was left with two options at the top of the bantamweight division: either go with the surging new talent, who has the champion and the audience’s attention, or the former champion many believe should never have lost the title in the first place.

Earlier this week, the UFC made Cruz versus Garbrandt official. That has Dillashaw scratching his head about the direction the sport is taking and what he needs to do in order to get the opportunities he believes he’s already earned.

“It’s a tough one to swallow, especially because I feel I’ve done my job; I’ve done what I’m supposed to do,” begins Dillashaw, an exasperated sigh preceding his answer. “I had a very close fight with Dominick Cruz where the owners of the UFC told me they thought I won the fight, so that kind of burns deep. Not only should I have that belt, but I should be getting paid as the champion and to see Dominick Cruz being put on a Ronda Rousey card and about to get hooked up with a really big fight, it definitely bugs me.

“I’ve put in the hard work, so it’s a tough one, man. It really, really does suck.”

While there’s obviously a personal element to his frustration, Dillashaw’s beef with the recently-announced championship booking doesn’t solely stem from being the odd man out in this situation.

In a year where Conor McGregor has twice jumped to the front of the line in the lightweight division in an attempt to make history (and a truckload of money) and Michael Bisping defended the middleweight strap against an aging fighter whose final 10 fights produced a 3-7 record, the decision to pit Cruz against Garbrandt is another instance where the math of the matchups just doesn’t add up for the 30-year-old standout.

Though no one takes the UFC rankings as gospel, or expects the organization to adhere to a policy where the No. 1 contender is always the next one to challenge for championship gold, the shift towards favoring what Dillashaw calls “reality TV drama” over results, rankings and overall resumes is disheartening to the former champion.

“What’s the reasoning behind skipping five guys?” he asks rhetorically. “Why does No. 6 get to fight for a world title when he beat No. 11? He hasn’t beaten anybody in the Top 5.

“Nothing against Cody Garbrandt; it’s not his fault,” Dillashaw adds in regards to his former teammate. “All of us should be pushing for the title — that’s the ultimate goal — but I blame Dominick Cruz and the UFC for letting this happen. I really don’t understand why the UFC is letting Dominick Cruz pick the fights he wants.

“It’s a mockery – it’s a mockery of the sport,” continues the former Cal State Fullerton wrestler, who was convinced to pursue a career in mixed martial arts by one of his collegiate assistant coaches, former UFC middleweight contender Mark Munoz. “The sport should be about the best guys on the planet (fighting each other). What’s the point of having rankings (if they don’t factor into matchups)?

“More power to the guys that can get away with making tons of money talking trash like Conor McGregor — he’s smart, he’s doing a good job — but it’s unfortunate what it’s doing to the rest of the sport. I want this shit to be real; not about the sideshow promotion.”

While the decision to go with Garbrandt opposite Cruz was ultimately a choice made by the UFC, the brunt of the passed-over contender’s frustrations don’t reside with the organization.

“To be completely honest, it hurts a little bit and I wish I got a little bit more respect for being the champion that I was,” says Dillashaw, who successfully defended the bantamweight title twice during his 20-month reign atop the 135-pound weight class. “When I was champ, I was told, ‘Look — here’s the best guy; you’re fighting him.’ I rematched Renan Barao after I beat his ass. I took a 24-hour notice title fight against Joe Soto, who I knew was a super-tough kid.

“I’m a company man, dude — the UFC is the best organization in the world for mixed martial art; I want to be in the UFC and if you think of the best fighters in the world, you think of UFC champions — but I wish it would just pay off a little more. I want to be the best fighter in the world and that’s with the UFC. They’ve done a great job and I’m very grateful for the position I’m in, but this f–king sucks.”

As far as Dillashaw is concerned, some of blame falls on Cruz for downplaying their potential rematch and seemingly hand-picking his next opponent. The fans that flock to social media, feeding on the drama and rallying behind the latest fighter garnering buzz inside and outside of the cage, are part of the equation as well.

“I feel like this is partially a Dominick Cruz thing — he’s the one picking the fights and being a prima donna instead of just fighting the best guys,” says Dillashaw. “My bet is that he’s going to try to retire before he has to rematch me.

“I think he knows that I won that fight,” he says of their first encounter earlier this year. “He admitted it to me after the fight — he said congratulations and said that he didn’t do too bad after a long layoff, so him and his coaches both knew that I won that fight and he’s trying to be on top for as long as he can without having to fight me.

“I think it also comes down to is the obliviousness of our fans,” continues Dillashaw. “They see Cody Garbrandt knock out No. 11 Mizugaki and think he’s the almighty and he should get the title fight, but then I’m on the undercard of UFC 200, I’m not pushed enough and I beat a guy that’s been on an eight-fight winning streak, No. 2-ranked fighter in the bantamweight division and it’s not even talked about.

“I go out and dominate Assuncao — beat him 30-27, put him on his ass — and it doesn’t have the impact on the fans as Cody knocking out No. 11. How many Top 15 guys did I knock out (along the way)? I really think it comes down to the obliviousness and the fans not knowing what they’re watching. They’re watching the hype and that’s real unfortunate.”

There’s an argument to be made that the organization plays a big part on that end of things as well, given how it puts together events, where different bouts fall on the fight card and how much of a promotional push individual fighters receive compared to others.

For example, moderate fans of the sport are more familiar with someone like Sage Northcutt, the 20-year-old action figure with perfect manners and a 3-1 mark against lower-tier lightweight talent, than countless more accomplished fighters. That’s because the UFC has made a concerted effort to keep “Super Sage” in the spotlight from Jump Street.

They brought him to Open Workouts prior to his debut in Houston and hustled him onto the main card for his sophomore appearance before featuring him on this year’s initial FOX event and adding him to the lineup for UFC 200, where he competed one fight before Dillashaw crossed the threshold into the Octagon and avenged his previous setback to Assuncao.

The former champion acknowledges this, though he’s hesitant to direct too much criticism towards the organization. On the whole, he’s grateful to be where he’s at five years into his UFC career. That being said, he does wish the new brass were looking a little further into the future when setting the course the UFC will sail going forward.

“I think they’re looking at it business-wise, but I think they need to look at it long-term business-wise as well,” says the Elevation Fight Team member and Bang Muay Thai practitioner. “They’re smart — it’s hard for me to say shit because they built the UFC up to what it is today — but my opinion is don’t go for the instant entertainment business decision and make the UFC look like a joke circus; go for the long-term business decision and make this sport.

“We don’t watch the NFL for any kind of shit-talk or bullshit, reality TV drama; we watch football for the entertainment factor of the sport and the best teams playing the best teams. There are (standings) and playoffs and it’s about the actual sport.

“It’s unfortunate that it’s turning into this reality TV soap opera with the UFC. I know it’s entertainment, but I wish it were more entertainment because of the sport. That’s why I fell in love with the sport — it was about trying to be the best in the world, being a professional and putting in the hard work.”

Entrenched in the top spot on the growing list of bantamweight contenders and passed over for a championship opportunity he believes he’s already earned, Dillashaw’s plan going forward is to approach things the way he feels Cruz and all other UFC champions should — by taking on and taking out the top contenders in the division, one by one.

“You wish you could just sit around and wait and do what’s right for you, but I’m not going to get better doing that. I need something to strive towards. I need goals to push for. So I think the way Duane and I are approaching it is that I’m going to be the real champion — I’m going to be the one that acts like a champion; lives up to rankings. I want to fight all the No. 2s coming up.

“I just beat Raphael Assuncao and I’m going to beat all the Top 5 guys,” he continues. “I’ll beat all the No. 1 contenders like it should be going down and we’ll let everyone else decide who the real champion is.

“You can have a powder puff champion who is going to pick Top 10 guys or you can have me — the real champion — who is going to beat everyone that is ranked No. 2. You tell me who is acting more like a champion?

“I’m going to beat all the toughest guys and let him hand-select the fights he wants,” he says of Cruz. “Eventually, real fans will catch on and those are the ones that really matter to me. They know who’s taking the tougher fights and who’s the one fighting the No. 1 contenders.”

He’s even got an opponent and date in mind for when he’s likely to begin this next phase of his career.

“I think John Lineker would be a great fight for me and a great win for my legacy,” offered Dillashaw, doing a little personal matchmaking of his own. “It’d be a great way to hype myself up, beating the toughest guy.

“And I’d love to be on the same card as (Cruz) to prove a point. I think it would be hilarious to fight before them at UFC 207 on December 30. It would be awesome.”