‘Real 135-Pound Champ’ Dillashaw Responds To Jose Aldo’s Call Out

T.J. Dillashaw’s name was on the lips of a lot of bantamweight fighters as the former champ prepares to return after a two year suspension.

On January 18th, 2021, T.J. Dillashaw will return from a two year USADA suspension for taking Erythropoietin (EPO) leading up to his failed flyweight title bid against Henry Cejudo. And it looks like he’s got a lot of people interested in a fight.

Top of the list is former featherweight kingpin turned stubborn bantamweight contender Jose Aldo. Back to back losses to Marlon Moraes and Petr Yan don’t capture the quality of his performances in those bouts, and he proved himself legit at his new weightclass by defeating Marlon “Chito” Vera pretty handily at UFC Vegas 17 (see the highlights here).

“As far as the next fight it would be Dillashaw,” Aldo said immediately after his win. “Dana, make it happen!”

“I don’t have anything personally with T.J.,” Aldo added during the post-fight press conference. “I just want to make a great fight for the fans. I think T.J. is a great former champion. I think this fight makes sense for everybody.”

Also gunning to get illa with the Dilla is Rob Font, who landed the nastiest knockout of the night on Marlon Moraes.

Font is coming back from a year on the shelf due to knee surgery, and thinks there’s no better fight to make up for lost time.

“I would love to fight that guy,” Font said. “He’s an ex-champ. Big name, huge name. If I don’t get that fight, I just would love to headline a card. I want someone big, either a big name, some type of headline, I would even fill in for the champ, we’ll figure something out.”

As for T.J., he responded to all the attention by taking a shot at bantamweight champion / belt-warmer Petr Yan.

Based on his Instagram, Dillashaw is looking more than ready to step in and face anyone the UFC throws at him.

What do you think, Maniacs? Should it be Font, or Aldo? Or do you have other ideas?