Count former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw among those confused by Herb Dean’s actions in this past weekend’s main event. The veteran official was tasked with being the third man inside the Octagon for the Noche UFC (UFC 306) headliner inside the Sphere, where Sean O’Malley put his 135-pound gold on the line against Merab […]
Count former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw among those confused by Herb Dean’s actions in this past weekend’s main event.
The veteran official was tasked with being the third man inside the Octagon for the Noche UFC (UFC 306) headliner inside the Sphere, where Sean O’Malley put his 135-pound gold on the line against Merab Dvalishvili.
Later in the fight, the referee featured in a different way as he frequently called for more action while Dvalishvili held a dominant grappling position.
While that was enough to cause debate, Dean’s decision to do the same while the pair were on the feet in the main event’s dying seconds saw him become the subject of heavy criticism from the commentary team and fans online.
Dillashaw Slams Dean For UFC 306 Main Event Refereeing: ‘Shouldn’t Be Involved Like That’
During a recent episode of the JAXXON PODCAST, Dillashaw looked back on the events that unfolded inside the Sphere alongside Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Luke Rockhold, and Jason Parillo.
The former UFC bantamweight champion was firm with his criticism of the third man inside the cage for Saturday’s headliner, suggesting Dean refereed favorably toward the defending champion.
“It’s complete bullsh*t,” Dillashaw said. “You can’t tell two fighters to work when they’re on their feet. I could run circles if I wanted to. You can’t tell me to go and work. … It’s not like I’m stalling against the cage. We’re striking, and you’re telling me to work. Like, I might run into something now ’cause you’re coaching me on how I am supposed to fight. The ref shouldn’t be involved like that.
“I thought it was very weird. It was almost like he had money on O’Malley,” Dillashaw continued. “(It was) like he wanted Merab to keep going so O’Malley could catch him with something. It was weird.”
Dean’s performance in the main event has remained a prominent talking point days on from the show, as has factors away from the fighting action itself such as Welch’s controversial corner tactics.
While many have lauded the UFC for the spectacle it put on inside the Sphere, those likely weren’t the topics that the promotion hoped would come out of the pay-per-view main event.
TJ Dillashaw recently escalated his critique of Anthony Smith, backing up all of his previous fault-finding of the former UFC light heavyweight title challenger. Smith might have faced a sobering reality regarding his hopes for a second run towards the title after enduring a challenging unanimous decision loss to short-notice replacement Roman Dolidze at UFC […]
TJ Dillashaw recently escalated his critique of Anthony Smith, backing up all of his previous fault-finding of the former UFC light heavyweight title challenger.
Interestingly, the former UFC bantamweight champion was highly critical of “Lionheart’s” performance during his appearance on the JAXXON PODCAST with former UFC champions Rampage Jackson and Luke Rockhold last month. Dillashaw mocked Smith’s moniker, bluntly stating that the 36-year-old Texan will never become champion because he lacks the resilience to persevere.
Smith swiftly responded to Dillashaw’s pointed remarks during an episode of the BELIEVE YOU ME Podcast. “Lionheart” didn’t hold back, taking a scathing jab at the 38-year-old Californian’s positive performance-enhancing drug test in 2019, which resulted in a two-year suspension from the UFC.
However, the exchange of verbal jabs didn’t end there. Dillashaw has returned with a fresh barrage of critiques, once again labeling Smith as a quitter…
Dillashaw Thinks Smith Becomes Defensive When Judged
During his recent appearance on the JAXXON PODCAST, Dillashaw sought to defend his previous comments about Smith, arguing that he lacks the attributes of a true championship contender—a reality Smith himself has acknowledged.
“I thought he was going to be a champion. I said no, and then you’re like, why not? It’s like, he gives up,” Dillashaw said. “He doesn’t have that fight, he doesn’t have that dog in him personally, and I think he admitted it himself without even hearing our podcast yet. He did a video after that, kind of like deciding he’s going to continue to fight.”
The bantamweight veteran further noted that while Smith frequently criticizes other fighters, he doesn’t handle criticism directed at himself with the same grace.
“I mean, dude, the guy’s got to sit there and be like, why are you wearing your feelings on your sleeve? I mean, he sits there and talks sht about people on the broadcast all the time. I’m no stranger to it; he said some sh*t about me. It’s like, whatever, dude. That’s just how I feel, and if you don’t like it, if the truth hurts, too f**king bad.”
Alex Pereira’s recent successful defence of his light heavyweight title at UFC 303 has added the Brazilian’s name to the ever-growing list of fighters who have successfully changed weight divisions within the UFC. Today we take a look at some of the most notable examples (along with a few that didn’t fare quite as well). […]
Alex Pereira’s recent successful defence of his light heavyweight title at UFC 303 has added the Brazilian’s name to the ever-growing list of fighters who have successfully changed weight divisions within the UFC. Today we take a look at some of the most notable examples (along with a few that didn’t fare quite as well).
CONOR McGREGOR
The original ‘champ champ’. The first man to simultaneously hold championship belts in two different weight divisions. “The Notorious” signed with the UFC back in 2013 having won both the featherweight and lightweight titles in Cage Warriors and within two-and-a-half years he knocked out Jose Aldo to claim the 145lb belt.
Image: Conor McGregor IG
Less than a year later, he put on perhaps the best display of his career when he beat Eddie Alvarez at the iconic Madison Square Garden to claim the 155lb strap. He has also competed in the welterweight division, fighting Nate Diaz twice and Donald Cerrone. His recent (now postponed) comeback bout against Michael Chandler had been set to take place over five rounds at 170lbs.
DANIEL CORMIER
“DC” enjoyed huge success fighting as a heavyweight prior to signing with the UFC in 2013. He beat Antonio “Big Foot” Silva and Josh Barnett to win the Strikeforce heavyweight grand prix in 2012 and began his UFC career with wins over former heavyweight champion Frank Mir and Roy Nelson, before making the decision to move down to 205lbs as his team-mate Cain Velazquez was the heavyweight champion at the time.
Cormier submitted Anthony “Rumble” Johnson in 2015 to claim the vacant light heavyweight title, and three years later he made the decision to move up and challenge then-champion Stipe Miocic for the heavyweight title. He shocked the world by knocking out Miocic in the first round, although the Cleveland-born firefighter gained his revenge by beating Cormier twice in 2019/2020, retiring him from the sport.
Image: Robert Whittaker Instagram
ROBERT WHITTAKER
“Bobby Knuckles” signed with the UFC back in 2012 off the back of some impressive performances on The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes and had mixed results during his time competing in the welterweight division. He won three of his first five fights, but losses to Court McGee and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson convinced Whittaker to test the waters at 185lbs.
What followed was an eight-fight winning streak, wins over the likes of Yoel Romero and “Jacare” Souza and the UFC middleweight title. Whittaker lost the belt to Israel Adesanya in 2022 but is still riding high at 185lbs and finds himself in the title picture once again after his recent knockout victory over Ikram Aliskerov.
HENRY CEJUDO
The 2008 Olympic gold medallist won his first four fights inside the Octagon to earn a shot at then-UFC flyweight champion Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson back in 2016. Although Cejudo was knocked out in the first round, he soon worked his way back into title contention with some impressive victories over Wilson Reis and Sergio Pettis.
The rematch was a much closer affair, and “Triple C” ended Johnson’s record-breaking title reign and emerged victorious by way of a contentious split decision. A year later he moved up to 135lbs to challenge Marlon Moraes for the vacant UFC bantamweight title. He finished Moraes and then beat former champion Dominick Cruz in his first title defence in 2020, before relinquishing his belt and announcing his retirement, in what seemed like a power play due to contract issues with the UFC.
3 Fighters Who Moved Down A Weight Division…With Disastrous Results!
T.J. DILLASHAW
T.J. Dillashaw enjoyed two separate runs as UFC bantamweight champion. He shocked the MMA world when he destroyed Renan Barao at UFC 173 to capture the 135lb belt. After losing the title to Dominck Cruz two years later, he regrouped and beat Raphael Assuncao and John Lineker to earn another shot at gold.
He knocked out former team-mate Cody Garbrandt (who had won the belt from Cruz a year earlier), and after finishing “No Love” again in a rematch, made the decision to cut to 125lbs to challenge Henry Cejudo for the flyweight title.
The decision proved disastrous. Dillashaw was knocked out after just 32 seconds, and a couple of months later it was announced he had been suspended for two years by USADA due to testing positive for EPO in the lead-up to the Cejudo fight.
He returned after his suspension ended and beat Cory Sandhagen to earn another shot at the 135lb belt but went into the fight against Aljamain Sterling carrying a serious shoulder injury and was finished easily. He has since walked away from the sport.
CODY GARBRANDT
Cody Garbrandt came into that first bantamweight title fight with T.J. Dillashaw unbeaten at 10-0 and riding high off the back of a career-best performance against Dominick Cruz. The two losses he suffered at the hands of Dillashaw seemed to affect him badly. He was also knocked out by Pedro Munhoz in his next fight, and although he would claim a highlight reel finish over Raphael Assuncao in 2020, a defeat to Rob Font soon afterwards convinced him a change was needed.
Image: Cody Garbrandt Instagram
With no discernible path back into the bantamweight picture, “No Love” decided to make the cut to 125lbs for a fight against Australian flyweight contender Kai Kara-France at UFC 269. Another first-round knockout defeat followed, and Garbrandt stepped away from the spotlight for a much-needed break.
His return to the bantamweight division has been a little less calamitous. Wins over Trevin Jones and Brian Kelleher, followed by a submission loss to Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 300 have hinted that perhaps his future lies slightly outside of the title picture for now, but most definitely should be at 135lbs.
DAN HOOKER
“The Hangman” picked up a string of impressive wins in the UFC’s lightweight division between 2017 and 2021, beating the likes of Paul Felder, Al Iaquinta, Gilbert Burns and Jim Miller. His record at 155lbs during that five-year spell sits at 8 wins and 4 defeats, but losses against the biggest names in the division such as Michael Chandler, Dustin Poirier and Islam Makhachev convinced the Australian to think about a move down to 145lbs.
Image: UFC.com
His featherweight debut against Arnold Allen in London, England ended disastrously. At 6 feet tall, Hooker looked frail and weakened at 145lbs, and Allen destroyed him in little over two minutes. Hooker has since returned to the lightweight division and reeled off victories over Claudio Puelles and Jalin Turner.
One thing we know for certain: finding the right weight class is of paramount importance for a fighter. It can be the defining factor between a promising career and a championship legacy in the highly demanding world of the UFC.
Former undisputed bantamweight champion, Cody Garbrandt has claimed he’s unsure if he’ll ever share a similar sentiment to former…
Former undisputed bantamweight champion, Cody Garbrandt has claimed he’s unsure if he’ll ever share a similar sentiment to former teammate, Urijah Faber and end his long-standing rift with former two-time foe and former titleholder, T.J. Dillashaw, claiming there will always been an “asterisk” beside the veteran’s name.
Garbrandt, a former undisputed bantamweight champion, makes his return to the Octagon tonight at UFC 296 in Las Vegas, attempting to turn in a two-fight winning run for the first time since his 2016 title winning run – as he takes on Brian Kelleher in a bantamweight clash.
As for Dillashaw, the Angels Camp native briefly made his return to the Octagon in October of last year, attempting to become the first three-time bantamweight champion in promtoional history, before a lingering shoulder injury resulted in a one-sided second round TKO loss to Aljamain Sterling.
Cody Garbrandt addresses T.J. Dillashaw rivalry
Sharing his thoughts on a potential squashing of a long-standing and heated rivalry with former Team Alpha MMA training partner, Dillashaw, Garbrandt appeared less interested in doing so than former teammate, Faber.
“I mean, it is what it is, T.J. (Dillashaw) is no longer in the UFC, you see with his career and towards the end of it, and that’s the reason why,” Cody Garbrandt told ESPN ahead of UFC 296. “The substances that he was taking, his body wasn’t able to uphold and good for him, hats off to him for what he was able to do. But, you know, there’s always going to be an asterisk and there should be an asterisk throughout his name and whatever he’s done in his career.”
“I know wholeheartedly that I can go through my whole UFC career and not ever had to take any performance-enhancing drug and just believe in my abilities,” Cody Garbrandt continued. (H/T MMA News)
T.J. Dillashaw revealed that his recent retirement from mixed martial arts was a decision he was forced to make. Throughout his decade-long career, T.J. Dillashaw has experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Once regarded as the best bantamweight in the world, T.J. Dillashaw’s reputation took a massive hit after USADA and […]
T.J. Dillashaw revealed that his recent retirement from mixed martial arts was a decision he was forced to make.
Throughout his decade-long career, T.J. Dillashaw has experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Once regarded as the best bantamweight in the world, T.J. Dillashaw’s reputation took a massive hit after USADA and the New York State Athletic Commission revealed that he had tested positive for recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) prior to his bout with Henry Cejudo in 2019. Slapped with a two-year suspension, T.J. Dillashaw accepted his punishment and focused on coming back clean once eligible.
In July 2021, he did exactly that, returning to the Octagon and scoring a big win over Cory Sandhagen. A win that would immediately put him back in the bantamweight title picture. His opportunity to reclaim UFC gold was put on hold again after sustaining an injury during his fight with ‘The Sandman.’ Fast forwarding more than a year later, T.J. Dillashaw returned to cash in on his title opportunity against reigning champion Aljamain Sterling.
Disaster quickly struck as Dillashaw’s shoulder dislocated in the opening round. He attempted to fight through the pain as his corner frantically tried to pop it back into place, but in the end, Sterling was able to retain the title with a second-round TKO. Six weeks later, Dillashaw was removed from the roster as he announced his retirement from combat sports.
T.J. Dillashaw Will Likely Need Another Surgery to Repair His Shoulder
Four months removed from the announcement, TJ Dillashaw took to Instagram, revealing that retirement was not his choice, but the result of being diagnosed with a permanently injured shoulder that will never be ready for the rigors of competition again.
“But in all honesty I’m pretty pissed that I didn’t get the chance to choose to retire,” Dillashaw revealed. “I feel that I’m good to go to hang ’em up. Haven’t told many people, but I have to go under the knife again for surgery because my first surgery didn’t take. Being told that my shoulder will never be good enough to compete again is hard to hear. I have been delaying my surgery trying to find a better solution.”
TJ Dillashaw has announced his retirement.
Seems his retirement is medically forced. First shoulder surgery didn’t take and he has another one soon. Tough news. pic.twitter.com/BbOySq1KMK
TJ Dillashaw closed out his career with a record of 17-5, scoring notable wins over Renan Barao, John Lineker, Raphael Assunção, Cody Garbrandt, and Cory Sandhagen. Capturing the UFC bantamweight title on two separate occasions, Dillashaw successfully defended the title three times and holds the record for most knockouts in 135-pound history.
TJ Dillashaw believes that it was the right decision for the Irish superstar Conor McGregor to withdraw from the USADA testing pool. The former two-division UFC world champion McGregor broke his shin in his most recent fight against Dustin Poirier in 2021. ‘Notorious’ has not been tested by USADA, the UFC’s PED testing agency, in […]
TJ Dillashaw believes that it was the right decision for the Irish superstar Conor McGregor to withdraw from the USADA testing pool.
The former two-division UFC world champion McGregor broke his shin in his most recent fight against Dustin Poirier in 2021. ‘Notorious’ has not been tested by USADA, the UFC’s PED testing agency, in recent months. On Twitter, the whiskey mogul implied that he did withdraw from USADA testing to heal his broken leg. In a since-deleted Tweet, Conor McGregor explained:
“Everything was fully disclosed before I began. The state of allowance for athletes to recover from injuries as horrific as the one I overcame must be assessed. My thoughts are with weidman and Anderson Silva. The 3 of us, and only us, know the severity of this injury.”
USADA explained that regardless of injuries, all fighters will need to test clean for a minimum of six months before their return to the octagon. Unless given an exception similar to Brock Lesnar at UFC 200.
TJ Dillashaw supports Conor McGregor
Former bantamweight king TJ Dillashaw believes that it was the correct decision for Conor McGregor to withdraw from USADA testing. In an interview with Brendan Schaub on Food Truck Diaries, TJ Dillashaw explained:
“We don’t have an offseason. We’re tested 365 days a year. You don’t get time to heal. You don’t get these down times. The guy is in movies, he’s doing all this sh*t, his leg is broken in half, and even if he were to take steroids to recover himself, he can’t compete with it in his system. So he’s not gonna have an advantage from taking what he’s taking. All he’s doing is healing. If you’re telling me that a guy can’t heal, who’s gonna make not only himself but the UFC hundreds of millions of dollars, that makes no sense not to. He’s not doing anything wrong.”
Dillashaw concluded by saying:
“I know he’s not fighting on the sh*t, so whatever. If he can heal the right way, he actually has a career – because I mean, you break your leg like that, you might never come back.” [Transcript courtesy of MMA Junkie]
Former undisputed bantamweight champion, Cody Garbrandt has claimed he’s unsure if he’ll ever share a similar sentiment to former…
T.J. Dillashaw revealed that his recent retirement from mixed martial arts was a decision he was forced to make. Throughout his decade-long career, T.J. Dillashaw has experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. Once regarded as the best bantamweight in the world, T.J. Dillashaw’s reputation took a massive hit after USADA and […]
TJ Dillashaw believes that it was the right decision for the Irish superstar Conor McGregor to withdraw from the USADA testing pool. The former two-division UFC world champion McGregor broke his shin in his most recent fight against Dustin Poirier in 2021. ‘Notorious’ has not been tested by USADA, the UFC’s PED testing agency, in […]