TJ Dillashaw won’t be able to compete until 2021. And it’s only burning him inside further after his last outing in the Octagon.
Dillashaw was knocked out by Henry Cejudo in his attempt to become flyweight champion earlier this year. After the fight, he vacated his bantamweight title as he tested positive for EPO and was suspended by the United States Anti-Doping Agency for two years.
Cejudo would go on to claim the vacant bantamweight crown by knocking out Marlon Moraes — something which only makes Dillashaw want to run things back even more:
“I definitely have some animosity towards myself, towards the sport, just everything,” Dillashaw told Chael Sonnen in a recent video (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.
“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.”
As for Cejudo, the question now is which title he should defend next. Joseph Benavidez appears to be next in line at flyweight and for Dillashaw, that’s the fight that makes sense:
“I think it would be very dumb for Cejudo not to fight Joseph Benavidez,” Dillashaw explained. “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.
“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.”
What do you think of Dillashaw’s comments?
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