T.J. Dillashaw is set to defend his UFC bantamweight title against former champion Dominick Cruz in the main event of UFC Fight Night 81 on Jan. 17 in Boston. Urijah Faber thinks his former Alpha Male teammate will retain his title and knockout his rival.

"The California Kid" appears to be next in line for a title shot after a hard-fought win over Frankie Saenz at UFC 194 in November. Faber is a former teammate of Dillashaw from 2009 to 2015 and lost to Cruz during their bantamweight title fight in 2011.

"Cruz maybe one of the best defensive fighters out there, and T.J. is one of the best offensive guys out there, so it's going to be interesting. Dominick will be quick to talk about how he has a win over me. It was just apparent to me that he's not that hard to hit," Faber said on The MMA Hour.

"I've hit him a number of times and I've hit him clean on the chin, put him on his butt, my fist to his chin to his butt on three different occasions during our fight. I think T.J. will be able to do the same. I think he'll probably finish him. I think he'd probably knock him out," he added as quoted by MMA Fighting.

Faber defeated Cruz via submission back in 2007 to retain his WEC featherweight championship but lost in 2011 via unanimous decision at UFC 132.

According to Bloody Elbow, Dillashaw's problems with Team Alpha Male started in 2014 when Duane Ludwig and Faber had a falling out. Ludwig started his own gym in Colorado, BANG Muay Thai. The champion then left Team Alpha Male in 2015 for Elevation Fight Team in Denver, close to Ludwig's gym.

The 29-year-old credits Ludwig for improving his striking ability and wants to continue his training with him. Dillashaw is currently on a four-fight winning streak and has an overall record of 12-2, per Sherdog.