EXCLUSIVE | Aljamain Sterling on TJ Dillashaw: ‘I like to say where there’s smoke, there’s fire’

The recent news of TJ Dillashaw relinquishing his title due to an adverse finding in his drug test after his fight against flyweight champion Henry Cejudo sent a shockwave through the MMA world. Dillashaw faced Cejudo in attempt to become a two-weight world champion in a time where the future of the flyweight division was up in the air.

Henry Cejudo put a halt to the plans of Dillashaw and the UFC potentially shutting down the flyweight division when he defeated Dillashaw in a quick first-round TKO. Now that Dillashaw has relinquished his title and left the bantamweight division and title up for grabs, many fighters of the bantamweight division are speaking up for their chance to get the vacant belt.

In an exclusive interview with BJPenn.com, Aljamain Sterling responded to the news of Dillashaw’s test and he didn’t hold back. When initially asked about his thoughts of the adverse findings, Sterling didn’t rush to judgement.

“When it comes to that part, I really don’t know what to make of that,” he said. “I think most people would try to fight it all the way through, and if they got the belt they would try to keep the belt, but I guess he’s making it easier for us. We’re just gonna fight for the world title rather than the interim title.”

However, when asked if he believes Dillashaw is a cheater, Sterling said he believes ‘where there’s smoke, there’s fire’.

“Innocent until proven guilty, you know,” he said. “Cody [Garbrandt] did bring it up during their fight at the press conference. It kind of got swept under the rug and nobody really dug into that a little bit deeper to find out what he was actually talking about to get more information. But, I like to say where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”

There was plenty of reactions from the MMA community after the news of Dillashaw’s drug test became public, and you can add Aljamain Sterling to the list of those sharing their opinion on the now former bantamweight champion.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 3/26/2019.