TJ Dillashaw News

Cole Shelton - January 25, 2022

TJ Dillashaw isn’t interested in fighting Jose Aldo. After Aldo defeated Rob Font in the main event fight back in December, he called out Dillashaw for a number one contender bout. On paper, it made sense as Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan are not having their title unification bout until April. However, for Dillashaw, he says he won’t be ready until the summer due to the knee injury he sustained in his win over Cory Sandhagen.

Susan Cox - January 25, 2022

Former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw has shared his prediction for the upcoming Petr Yan vs Aljamain Sterling rematch. Yan (16-2 MMA) and Sterling (21-3 MMA) are set to collide for a second time in the co-headliner of UFC 273 on April 9th. The bitter rivals originally met at UFC 259, where ‘FunkMaster’ took home the 135lb title after ‘No Mercy’ was disqualified for landing an illegal knee.

Harry Kettle - January 4, 2022

TJ Dillashaw and Paulo Costa were amongst the ten most-tested UFC fighters of 2021 by USADA. Over the course of the last few years, we’ve seen USADA really ramp up their testing program when it comes to those on the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s roster. From heavyweight to strawweight and beyond, everyone is being tested – especially those who have ran into some problems in the past.

Adam Martin - December 5, 2021

UFC bantamweight contender Jose Aldo called out former champion TJ Dillashaw following his UFC Vegas 44 win over Rob Font. Aldo defeated Font via unanimous decision in what was a great fight that served as the UFC Vegas 44 main event. Although Font outstruck Aldo in terms of significant strikes, Aldo dropped Font twice and he also had more control on the ground. In the end, the judges saw the fight unanimously for Aldo with 50-45, 50-45, and 49-46 scorecards. It was the biggest win of Aldo’s UFC bantamweight career thus far as he improved to 3-2 overall in the weight class. After losing fights to Marlon Moraes and Petr Yan to open up his 135lbs run, Aldo is now on a three-fight win streak over Font, Pedro Munhoz, and Marlon Vera.

Adam D Martin - November 17, 2021

UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan had MMA analyst Daniel Cormier in tears with his interpretation of divisional rival TJ Dillashaw. Yan was on Fight Island last month to fight Cory Sandhagen for the interim UFC bantamweight title. Ahead of the fight, Yan met with members of the UFC broadcast team including play-by-play announcer Jon Anik and color commentator Cormier. Yan was joking around with Cormier when he was asked to show him his best Dillashaw impression. Watch the impression of Dillashaw that Yan made, and see how much he made Cormier laugh.

Chris Taylor - October 16, 2021

Demetrious Johnson had a recent run-in with TJ Dillashaw and questioned the former UFC bantamweight champion why he took EPO. Johnson (30-4-1 MMA) and Dillashaw (17-4 MMA) appeared to be on a collision course back in 2017. ‘Mighty Mouse’ was dominating the 125lbs ranks and ‘Killashaw’ had established himself as the reigning bantamweight king.

Adam Martin - October 10, 2021

UFC bantamweight contender TJ Dillashaw says he’s been told by the promotion that he is next in line to fight for the 135lbs title. Dillashaw defeated Cory Sandhagen via split decision in his return to the Octagon back in July. For Dillashaw, it was his first fight since losing to Henry Cejudo at UFC on ESPN+ 1 in January 2019. Of course, that fight took place at 125lbs, when Dillashaw was attempting to become a two-division champion. The 135lbs champion at the time, Dillashaw vacated his title after he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. After serving his ban for two years, Dillashaw was able to come back and he picked up a huge win over Sandhagen. By beating Sandhagen, Dillashaw was expected to get the next title shot at 135lbs after the champion Aljamain Sterling and his rival Petr Yan had their rematch take place at UFC 267.

Harry Kettle - October 7, 2021

TJ Dillashaw has doubts that UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling will be able to return after his recent neck surgery. The top of the bantamweight division has been an interesting place for many months now ever since Sterling won the belt from Petr Yan via disqualification. We were scheduled to see the rematch later this month but as a result of Sterling pulling out due to lingering issues following neck surgery, Yan will now fight Cory Sandhagen for the interim strap.

Adam D Martin - September 14, 2021

Former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw admitted that he lied to the referee during the recent Cory Sandhagen bout. Dillashaw and Sandhagen fought for 25 minutes to a narrow split decision back in July that the judges ultimately gave to the former champ. Speaking to Submission Radio following the fight, Dillashaw admitted there was a chance that the fight could have been stopped because he had an injury to his eye that meant he had vision problems. According to Sandhagen, however, he lied to the referee and told him that he could still see fine.

Harry Kettle - September 1, 2021

UFC prospect Sean O’Malley has accused TJ Dillashaw of turning down a fight against him in Submission Underground. It’s no secret that O’Malley is one of the most intriguing rising stars the UFC has right now and in equal measure, it’s also not a surprise that many of his fellow bantamweights aren’t big fans of him.

Adam D Martin - August 18, 2021

Bantamweight prospect Sean O’Malley won’t become a UFC champion, said former 135lbs champ TJ Dillashaw, who thinks “he’s got too many holes.” Dillashaw knows what it takes to be a UFC champion because he was the promotion’s 135lbs champion on two separate occasions. Speaking to Submission Radio in a recent interview, Dillashaw was asked what he thinks about O’Malley, who is quickly rising up the ranks and is turning into a household name. When asked if he thinks “Suga” has what it takes to be a UFC champion, Dillashaw said that he doesn’t have the complete MMA game.

Adam D Martin - August 18, 2021

TJ Dillashaw “would like to fight Jose Aldo” but wants the former champion wants a crack at the UFC bantamweight title shot first. Dillashaw recently made his return to the Octagon after over two years away, and he defeated Cory Sandhagen via split decision to once again emerge as a top contender for the 135lbs title. The next bantamweight title fight takes place at UFC 267 in October when Aljamain Sterling defends his belts against Petr Yan in a rematch, and Dillashaw is hoping that he gets to fight the winner of that title match. However, the former featherweight champ Aldo called out Dillashaw after his latest win over Pedro Munhoz, and now fans are excited about the prospect of two former UFC champions going at it down at 135lbs.

Cole Shelton - August 9, 2021

TJ Dillashaw will only be out three months after having knee surgery. In Dillashaw’s return fight against Cory Sandhagen, he appeared to hurt his knee in the first round. It threw off his footwork but he still hung in the fight and ended up winning a split decision. However, Dillashaw knew his knee was injured and on Thursday underwent successful surgery.

Adam D Martin - August 8, 2021

Former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo called out TJ Dillashaw for a No. 1 contender fight in the bantamweight division in December. Aldo defeated Pedro Munhoz via unanimous decision in the co-main event of UFC 265. It was the legend’s second straight win following a unanimous decision victory over Marlon Vera in his last outing. After being left for dead by many fans following a three-fight win streak that culminated in a brutal TKO loss to former champion Petr Yan last summer, “Junior” has bounced back in a big way and is looking like a championship-quality fighter once again. Only this time, the championship belt he is chasing is in the 135lbs division.

Adam D Martin - July 28, 2021

UFC bantamweight contender Cory Sandhagen predicted how a rematch with TJ Dillashaw would go, saying that “he’ll probably get finished.” Sandhagen lost a disputed split decision to his former teammate Dillashaw in the main event of last weekend’s UFC Vegas 32 card. The fight was very competitive and each round was decided on razor-thing margins, but the judges ultimately decided to go with Dillashaw for his control over Sandhagen’s striking advantage. While Sandhagen admitted it was a close fight, he has no doubt that if he gets the chance to fight Dillashaw again, it won’t be.

Adam D Martin - July 28, 2021

UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling trashed TJ Dillashaw following his successful comeback, saying “you didn’t come clean you idiot.” Sterling is expected to rematch his rival, Petr Yan, later this year for the UFC bantamweight title, with Dillashaw fighting the winner following his split decision win over Cory Sandhagen at last weekend’s UFC Vegas 32 card. Speaking to Sirius XM’s Fight Nation following the Dillashaw vs. Sandhagen fight, Sterling said that he would be open to fighting Dillashaw in the future. But the one thing that is bothering Sterling is that Dillashaw has said that he came clean about his past use of performance-enhancing drugs, when “Funk Master” says the reality of the situation is he only came clean after he was caught.

Adam D Martin - July 27, 2021

UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber commented on his former pupil TJ Dillashaw using EPO, saying that “everybody knows what he was doing.” Dillashaw defeated Cory Sandhagen via split decision in the main event of this past Saturday’s UFC Vegas 32 event. It was the first fight for Dillashaw in 30 months since being suspended in January 2019 after testing positive for EPO. The suspension was for two years and he also was forced to vacate his 135lbs belt, so Dillashaw paid a hefty price for cheating before the Henry Cejudo fight. But if you ask Faber, his former coach at Team Alpha Male, Dillashaw had been using EPO for a lot longer than when he had been caught.

Adam D Martin - July 27, 2021

Former UFC bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo explained why TJ Dillashaw deserved to win the decision over Cory Sandhagen at UFC Vegas 32. Sandhagen and Dillashaw went 25 hard minutes against each other in an incredible bantamweight bout that headlined this past Saturday’s UFC Vegas 32 card, but at the end of the five rounds, it was Dillashaw pulling off the upset win with a split decision. The fight was very close and there are many fans who are on the opposite side of the coin when it comes to deciding who should have earned the decision, but if you ask one of the division’s all-time greats in Cejudo, he believes Dillashaw did enough to rightfully earn the victory.