TJ Dillashaw “is going to go ahead and beat Aljamain Sterling,” says former opponent: “He has a better skill set”

John Dodson, who fought and beat TJ Dillashaw, believes the former bantamweight champ is going to reclaim his belt at UFC 280.

Dillashaw is set to face Aljamain Sterling in the co-main event of UFC 280 in a very intriguing matchup. Dillashaw returned to the win column last time out as he beat Cory Sandhagen by split decision in his return from USADA suspension to earn the title shot.

Sterling, meanwhile, defended his belt in a rematch against Petr Yan as he used his grappling to control the fight. Although Sterling is on a seven-fight winning streak and hasn’t lost since 2017, Dodson believes Dillashaw will be too much for the champ.

“I think TJ Dillashaw is going to go ahead and beat Aljamain Sterling. I know everyone is a big Aljamain fan because he beat Yan and made it so easy,” John Dodson said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “But, I think TJ Dillashaw has a better skill set with the striking and the wrestling ability. It may not be the technical aspects of the grappling part, but he will be able to control the ground pace and be able to control the striking.”

Although Dodson is predicting TJ Dillashaw to defeat Aljamain Sterling at UFC 280, the oddsmakers seem to disagree. Sterling currently is a -165 favorite while Dillashaw is the +140 underdog, which implies that the champ wins the fight 62.26 percent of the time.

As for John Dodson, he is set to make his BKFC debut on Saturday against former UFC fighter Ryan Benoit. Although he is now in BKFC, he’s not ruling out a return to MMA as he says he still loves the sport. In his UFC career, the former flyweight title challenger went 10-7 with notable wins over TJ Dillashaw by TKO, Nathaniel Wood by TKO, Pedro Munhoz, and Tim Elliott among countless others.

Do you agree with John Dodson that TJ Dillashaw will beat Aljamain Sterling at UFC 280?