“I left as a champion”- TJ Dillashaw Highlights Why He’ll Feature in a Title Fight Upon His Return
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TJ Dillashaw
TJ Dillashaw, the former two times UFC bantamweight champion, is eyeing a championship fight in his return. Dillashaw relinquished his BW title after failing a drug test post his Flyweight debut against Henry Cejudo.
USADA suspended Dillashaw for two years. After the suspension was over, Dillashaw returned to the octagon and got to a decision victory over the top contender Cory Sandhagen. Dillashaw suffered major knee injuries in that fight and was required to have surgeries, which sat him out for another year.
After the champion, Aljamain Sterling, pulled out of the title fight against number one contender Petr Yan, the UFC booked an interim title fight since Dillashaw was injured, Sandhagen got the call. Yan defeated Sandhagen and became the interim champion. Yan and Sterling will fight to unify the title on UFC 273 card.
Dillashaw is the top-ranked contender after these two fighters and will be next for the winner and he thinks the same since he never lost his belt and was champion at the time of his suspension.
Dillashaw, in an interview with Brett Okamoto, said, “I mean let’s be honest, I left as a champion. I came back and fought the number one contender, for two and a half years of layoff and was able to beat him. So what else is there for me, what’s the thing gonna get me up out of bed and get me excited is getting my belt back. That’s what’s gonna get me nervous and that’s my goal. I mean there’s nothing else to really set my eyes on other than that”.;
Watch the full interview here:
Related Article – “I kneed to get back in there”- TJ Dillashaw offers an update on his injury status
TJ Dillashaw Came Back From His Suspension and Looked Great Against Sandhagen
TJ Dillashaw was out of the octagon for nearly two and half years. Not only that, he was coming off a knockout loss at Flyweight. Dillashaw, after this layoff, his return fight was against one of the best fighters at BW in Cory Sandhagen in a five-rounder. Dillashaw got hit a lot in the fight but gutted out to a decision victory over a top contender.
Dillashaw relied on his grappling to minimize the damage coming from a lengthy Sandhagen. Though many believe Sandhagen did more damage in the fight and was the winner, the three judges involved thought otherwise. Regardless of how the fight was scored, Dillashaw looked amazing and his performance was championship caliber. He faced adversity in the fight and still continued to fight for five rounds and eventually got the victory.
Also Read – “He’s irrelevant right now”- Justin Gaethje Dismisses Conor Mcgregor as a Title Contender
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Deepak Kumar
(66 Articles Published)