Photo by Michael Owens/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC
At UFC on ESPN+ 1 — Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) debut event on ESPN — Henry Cejudo knocked out T.J. Dillashaw in just 32 seconds to retain his Flyweight title. A few months later, it was revealed that Dillashaw had failed a drug test for EPO, prompting T.J. to vacate his title, and United States Anti Doping Agency (USADA) to suspend him for a period of two years.
While he won’t be able to return to action until early 2021, getting one back on Cejudo is still something the former champion desperately wants. And if T.J. still has animosity toward “Triple C,” it’s not so much for his trash talk and theatrics, but more-so for the way he carries himself.
“I definitely have some animosity towards myself, towards the sport, just everything,” Dillashaw said during a chat with Chael Sonnen (via MMA Junkie). “I have some enemies that are definitely going to stay my enemies for the rest of my life. I wouldn’t say it’s because (Cejudo) is a (expletive) talker, it’s more just the way he carries himself.”
The loss to Cejudo was Dillashaw’s first in nearly three years, so it’s not hard to see why he wants to get it back.
“It’s just something that I want back, not so much because he’s bad-mouthed or treated me a certain way. It’s just something that is burning inside of me, to get my belt back, to get that win back, to get back to where I need to be to get this thing behind me.”
Still, T.J. has a long way to go before he can get another crack at Henry. But by the time he comes back, there is no guarantee that “Triple C” will be at the top of any mountain, since he has hungry contenders such as Joseph Benavidez ready to take him down
“I think it would be very dumb for Cejudo not to fight Joseph Benavidez,” Dillashaw said. “That’s his last loss; that’s a fight that he has to make up. I think Joseph Benavidez has a great threat against him, too. That’s the fight that needs to happen, and he can’t be calling himself ‘Triple C’ no more if he’s going to be giving up a belt, so he needs to go down there and get it done and fight Joseph Benavidez,” he said.
“I think that’s the next fight for him. It makes the most sense. It’s the biggest draw. It’s a fight that was close, but Joseph did edge that fight out.”
Indeed, UFC president Dana White has already stated that if Henry doesn’t defend his 125-pound title against Benavidez — who defeated Cejudo via split decision in 2016 — he would be stripped of that title.
As for TJ, he recently underwent surgery to take care of a few nagging injuries, taking advantage of his time off to heal and come back 100-percent.