TJ Dillashaw was as soon as closely criticized for coming into a UFC title struggle regardless of realizing he was injured, however he now regrets that call.
Dillashaw will problem for Aljamain Sterling’s UFC bantamweight title in 2022. The struggle was something however aggressive, with “The Funk Grasp” profitable by TKO within the second spherical. It was clear that Dillashaw wasn’t giving one hundred pc within the match, and he was criticized by followers and pundits for forcing the struggle.
Throughout a chat with previous rival Dominick Cruz on the “Love & Conflict” podcast, Dillashaw revealed what his logic was on the time (by way of MMAFighting).
“I used to be hitting mitts with Tyler Wombles and we have been doing bag drills and I slipped and hit a left hook, and I threw it a little bit too far and I began crying immediately,” Dillashaw mentioned. “At the moment, my arm wasn’t damaged, and when it got here out of the socket, it was like I could not raise my arm to the most effective of my potential. I felt like I could not have hit that nice, however I used to be preventing Aljamain Sterling. I assumed, “If I used to be preventing somebody like Petr Yan, yeah, he most likely would not take the struggle as a result of he is striker.” Aljamain, I used to be going to place my foot down. My grappling wasn’t affected.
“4 weeks earlier than the sport, I subluxated my shoulder.”
Dillashaw additionally admitted that he thought-about Sterling the “weakest champion” on the time, which gave him confidence regardless of the damage. Because it turned out, this was the final skilled MMA bout of Dillashaw’s profession.
Sterling efficiently defended his title in opposition to Henry Cejudo and dropped the bantamweight gold medal to Sean O’Malley. Sterling presently competes as a prime contender within the UFC’s featherweight division.
