Former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw said he and every fighter who competes in MMA at a high level have been “bred” to believe they will succeed no matter the obstacles they face in the encounter training.
Even with a shoulder so badly injured it dislocated an estimated 20 times ahead of a UFC 280 title fight with Aljamain Sterling, Dillashaw believed he could hold out. And more importantly, he would not let any other reality intervene.
“I’m addicted to being on top,” Dillashaw told MMA Hour on Wednesday. “I figured I’d go out there and do it.”
As the world saw, Dillashaw had no real chance of winning against Sterling. The ex-champion’s left shoulder was dislocated in a takedown in the first minute of the fight and from then on he was just fighting for survival. He weighed, defending his head from punches, and stood up, hoping to have enough time to get through the round for his corner to smash his shoulder back in (which they did just before the doctor at the cage came around to to check it). Until the very end, he never conceded that the battle was lost.
For the second time in his career, Dillashaw, who was previously suspended for two years by the US Anti-Doping Agency for cheating, takes on the role of the villain. Fans, media and the UFC have blasted his decision to fight injuries. However, some came very close to accusing him of wrongdoing.
Dillashaw accepts his position as a villain, but there’s one accusation he takes offense at: that he committed “border fraud,” calling longtime MMA analyst Luke Thomas to describe his actions.
“As if I wasn’t thrown under the bus enough,” he said. “Like he thinks I went in there to collect a paycheck. I went into victory with the utmost belief and I would get my title back, something I’ve waited three and a half years for and bit the piece. I just beat Cory Sandhagen in one leg and why not? Why shouldn’t I think I can beat a less dangerous guy that I’m really compatible with?
“The shoulder obviously came out a lot sooner than I had hoped and didn’t go back in, which on average didn’t – such unfortunate events.”
Since the fight, Dillashaw said, he has been diagnosed with full-thickness tears in his supraspinatus and infraspinatus (both muscles that connect to the rotator cuff of the shoulder), tears in his teres minor and anterior labrum, and the humeral head in his shoulder which is through the Luxation “gelled”.
On November 8th, the ex-champion will undergo a third surgery to repair his left shoulder, adding to a list of procedures dating back to his days as a college wrestler. In 2017, on the set of The Ultimate Fighter 25, Dillashaw was injured again while playing tetherball on a balance beam to complete a coaching challenge against former teammate and opposing coach Cody Garbrandt.
Dillashaw expects to be out for up to seven months before returning to training. That schedule — and a title fight offered by the UFC after Sterling called him out — contributed most to his decision to fight injured, he said. A paycheck is not his main motivation, he added, despite long spells of inactivity due to his two-year suspension and knee surgery performed after beating Sandhagen in 2021. The ex-champ said he no longer had to fight for money. after investing his money wisely and building several non-combat businesses.
Being a champion is the greater reward he cannot do without.
“I’ve lost a lot more money than anyone,” Dillashaw said. “Losing a world title costs me millions of dollars. I should sit upstairs and wait for the next big fight.”
Following Dillashaw’s loss, fans and the media questioned whether online bookmakers should refund bets following his disclosure. For Dillashaw, that means he didn’t fight in good faith when in fact he took the greatest risk – his own body – in order to defeat an inferior opponent.
“I used to gamble too, and that’s why it’s called crappy gambling. You don’t know the situation. I took a risk. I could have sat out and had surgery, but when I come back who knows if I’ll get a title shot right away or have to fight my way back up in that or how bad that shoulder is. Let’s be honest, this is my third operation on my left shoulder. It’s not like I’m a spring f****** chicken and it’s going to be an easy fix. It’s a serious matter.
“I will come back. I won’t let my story end like this. But it’s still in the back of my mind – I’m going to have surgery, I’m out for a year and I’ve just had surgery. There’s no guarantee you’ll get a title shot if you come back. There’s a lot of options I’m weighing, I’m getting this fight against a champion that’s very beatable. I think he’s the hardest champion to beat in the division right now. I think he’s a big hole in his game and I fit in well with him, I’ll roll them and I’ll bet on myself, even with one arm.