TJ Dillashaw’s quest to win his second title in as many divisions came to an abrupt halt Saturday night (Jan. 19, 2019) after Henry Cejudo knocked him out in just 32 seconds to retain his Flyweight title at UFC on ESPN+ 1 (highlights).
Naturally, Dillashaw is still heated after saying the fight was “stolen” from him due to an over-zealous official who he feels stopped the fight early. And he has no problems being called a sore loser, because at the end of the day, he is just that.
“Let’s be honest, I’ve never said I wasn’t a sore loser. I don’t take losing very well. That’s not a guess about me. I let my emotions get the best of me, that’s why I’m so competitive and that’s why I am who I am,” he said on The Ariel Helwani MMA Show.
“That’s why I put that many hours into the gym and train as hard as I do. Even in practice I get pissed when I lose. You know? I’ve been known for that. My emotions get the best of me,” he added.
Despite taking the loss hard, “Viper” doesn’t want to completely discredit Cejudo.
“So obviously I was furious. It was, I mean a 30 second fight when I know I’m the better fighter. It’s just rough to swallow. If anybody’s been in my situation or just competing in general, you know what that’s like. And I want to be here congratulating Cejudo, first and foremost, I want to make sure that comes across. That is how I feel and know he put in a bunch of hard work, I don’t want to take away anything from his victory or his accolades or what he’s done,” he added. Still, TJ feels he is the superior athlete, and he will get the victory over Cejudo more often than not.
“He looked great, has a great camp and I am happy for the guy, good for him. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to beat him. If we fight that fight 100 times I will win 99 of them. This, unfortunately, was that one fight.”
To drive the dagger in deeper, Cejudo says it hurts to have people close to the fight agree that the stoppage was horrible.
“I’m not going to swallow this one very well. It’s a tough one for me, I was very serious of that. Especially when I have the UFC doctors telling me it’s an early stoppage. You had Dana White talking about it was an early stoppage. It just sucks man. There’s no other way to really put it.”
Ready to get back into the gym to help the healing process, Dillashaw now has to wait and see just what UFC decides to do next. On the bright side, Cejudo himself has stated he’s all for an instant do-over.