Cory Sandhagen is making a fair and balanced point regarding the past drug use of UFC Vegas 32 opponent TJ Dillashaw, who makes his return to the 135-pound division this Sat. night (July 24) on ESPN+ and ESPN.
Or Sandhagen is acting like “a little bit of a douche,” depending on who you ask.
Dillashaw (16-4) has been riding the pine for over two years after drawing a sizable suspension from United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). The former champ owned up to his mistakes, but it still left a sour taste in Sandhagen’s mouth.
“As a competitor, and just kinda as a person, really the only word that I could kinda come up with for it is, it doesn’t bother me,” Sandhagen told ESPN (transcribed by Adam Martin). “TJ has to live with TJ’s decisions. I have to live with my decisions, but it is a little bit gross, in my opinion, to put yourself in an illegal advantage in a one-on-one combat scenario, in something you really love. If there’s a word for it, it’s kinda just gross.”
If Sandhagen thinks EPO is gross, wait until he hears about this.
Sandhagen (14-2) has won nine of his last 10, including back-to-back knockout victories over Marlon Moraes and Frankie Edgar. Defeating Dillashaw is expected to grant “Sandman” the next crack at the bantamweight crown, once these two get done fussing over it.
We’ll have some answers in just a few days.