Former two-time UFC bantamweight kingpin, T.J. Dillashaw has taken aim at his fellow former two-time division best and past opponent, Dominick Cruz – after the latter questioned how Dillashaw could potentially fight for a title next following an infamous two-year USADA suspension before his July return.
Dillashaw, who shared the Octagon with then-challenger, Cruz back in the main event of UFC Fight Night Boston in January of 2016, dropped the undisputed bantamweight champion to the former in the form of a close, split decision defeat.
In his most recent Octagon appearance, Dillashaw, a native of Angels Camp, headlined a July UFC Apex facility event against Cory Sandhagen, earning his place amongst title contention with a close, split judging win of his own.
However, Dillashaw has received criticism as of late for his calls for a title fight against champion, Aljamain Sterling – with many pointing to his notorious USADA anti-doping violation back in January 2020 following his flyweight title challenge loss to Henry Cejudo.
Slapped with a two-year, retroactive suspension, Dillashaw, who plys his trade under the tutelage of Duane Ludwig, tested positive for in-competition use of erythropoietin (EPO) – resulting in him relinquishing the bantamweight title.
Commenting on Dillashaw’s potential title siege against Sterling next, Cruz questioned how he could march right back into his a title tilt following his past anti-doping transgression.
T.J. Dillashaw reacts to recent comments from past opponent, Dominick Cruz
Reacting to Cruz’s comments, Dillashaw labelled the former champion a “salty c*nt”, and insisted he was clearly jealous of him.
“He (Dominick Cruz) sounds like a salty c*nt,” T.J. Dillashaw told Submission Radio during a recent interview. “I just think he’s obviously jealous of me being able to stay in the top, you know, my layoff and how long I’ve been in the sport and me still be able to come back and prove that I’m still the best. And I did lose money, right? Me not fighting for two years while being a champion is a lot of money out of my pocket. [If I] kept racking up wins, getting title defenses, I mean, we’re talking about millions and millions of dollars that I let slip through my fingers because I made a f*cking stupid mistake.”
“So yeah, I paid my time, I came back and f*ckin’ grinded to get that win on f*cking one leg and one eye, and there’s nothing you can do to deny me that it’s my shot,” T.J. Dillashaw explained. “So, like I said, he’s just being salty, and that’s kind of his personality anyways. He’s kind of an unlikeable dude, I mean, I’ve always respected him and I think he’s got a good eye for stuff, but he’s got like this chip on his shoulder where he feels like everything’s owed to him, and he’s just like always complaining about sh*t.”
Targeting an August Octagon comeback, Cruz, who holds recent wins over both Casey Kenney and Pedro Munhoz – the most recent of which at UFC 269 in December, has welcomed fights against the likes of former champions, Petr Yan, and Jose Aldo.
Former two-time UFC bantamweight champion, T.J. Dillashaw has claimed that a future championship challenge against current division titleholder, Aljamain Sterling would be “easy” for him from a stylistic viewpoint, claiming that the Uniondale gold holder is not “championships calibre”. Dillashaw, a former two-time undisputed bantamweight champion, most recently featured back in July in his return […]
T.J. Dillashaw thinks that Petr Yan will beat Aljamain Sterling with ease in their rematch in April. Yan was close to defeating Sterling at UFC 259 until he threw an illegal knee strike in the fourth round which rendered Sterling unable to continue. This disqualification resulted in Yan losing his bantamweight title. Since that mishap, […]