T.J.
Dillashaw once again seeks to reclaim the throne in which he
has twice ruled.
The
Duane
Ludwig protégé will challenge
Aljamain
Sterling for the undisputed
Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight crown in the
UFC 280 co-main event on Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi,
United Arab Emirates. Dillashaw, 36, held the 135-pound title from
May 24, 2014 to Jan. 17, 2016 and again from Nov. 4, 2017 to March
20, 2019. He has rattled off five wins across his past six
appearances and last competed at UFC on ESPN 27, where he eked out
a contentious split verdict over
Cory
Sandhagen in their July 2021 encounter.
As Dillashaw approaches his high-stakes confrontation with
Sterling, a look at five of the many moments that have come to
define him:
1. Magic Killer
John
Dodson’s experience, speed and power proved to steep a mountain
to climb, as he put away Dillashaw with first-round punches in
their bantamweight final at “The Ultimate Fighter 14” Finale on
Dec. 3, 2011 at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. The end came
1:54 into Round 1. Dodson set the table for the finish with a
ringing straight left, picked his shots with surgical patience and
precision and then floored the previously unbeaten Dillashaw with a
counter left hand behind the ear. He followed with a pair of quick
left hooks and a few hammerfists that prompted the stoppage.
Dillashaw rose on wobbly legs and was assisted to his corner,
having tasted defeat for the first time.
2. Validation
Dillashaw took care of
Renan Barao
with punches and retained the undisputed bantamweight championship
in the fourth round of their UFC on Fox 16 headliner on July 25,
2015 at the United Center in Chicago. Barao withered against the
cage 35 seconds into round four. Fourteen months after he dethroned
the Brazilian, Dillashaw was again the better man. The
Team Alpha Male standout ran circles around Barao with his
footwork and movement, blasted him with nifty combinations and
generally steered clear of danger. The challenger’s movements
became more and more labored as the fight dragged on, and Dillashaw
showed him no mercy. He staggered Barao with a clean left hook
early in the fourth round and uncorked a hellacious volley of lefts
and rights that gave referee
Herb Dean no
choice but to step in to save the
Nova Uniao rep from further punishment.
3. Begrudging Deference
The oft-injured
Dominick
Cruz reclaimed the bantamweight title he never lost with a
split decision over Dillashaw in the UFC Fight Night 81 main event
on Jan. 17, 2016 at the TD Garden in Boston. Judges David Ginsberg
and Tony Weeks struck 48-47 and 49-46 scorecards for Cruz, while
Sal D’Amato saw it 49-46 for Dillashaw. Together, the two men
produced a 25-minute display of marvelous technique and fortitude.
Cruz shook off the rust from another extended injury-induced
layoff—he had fought just once in the previous 1,569 days—and got
down to business with clinical counterpunches and elusive movement.
Dillashaw was left to throw single shots and whiffed often during
many of the early exchanges, as the
Alliance MMA cornerstone bobbed, weaved and circled out of
danger. Cruz supplemented his work on the feet with takedowns in
the second, third and fourth rounds, as he managed to ground a
fighter who had never before been taken down in UFC competition.
Despite the difficulties Cruz presented for him, Dillashaw kept
applying the pressure. He shifted the momentum in his favor in the
fourth round, where he connected with a crippling leg kick,
delivered a takedown of his own and punished Cruz in the clinch.
Dillashaw picked up where he left off in the fifth, as he followed
a clean right hand upstairs with a partially blocked head kick.
With Cruz compromised by an apparent foot injury, Dillashaw stayed
busy down the stretch but failed to do enough to carry the
scorecards.
4. One-Sided Rivalry
Dillashaw retained the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship
bantamweight title and improved to 2-0 against his archrival when
he dispatched former Team Alpha Male stablemate
Cody
Garbrandt with a knee strike and follow-up punches in the first
round of their UFC 227 headliner on Aug. 4, 2018 at the Staples
Center in Los Angeles. Garbrandt succumbed to blows 4:10 into Round
1. Staying technical despite the heated emotions involved,
Dillashaw countered his kick-heavy challenger at every turn. He
floored Garbrandt with a clean right hook, swarmed for a potential
stoppage and then reset. Another Dillashaw right—it landed more
like a clothesline than a punch—had “No Love” teetering on the
brink. The champion followed up with punches, allowed Garbrandt to
stand and uncorked a knee strike that resulted in the finish.
5. History Denied
Henry
Cejudo retained his undisputed flyweight crown in a
statement-making performance when he dismissed Dillashaw with
punches in the first round of their UFC Fight Night 143 headliner
on Jan. 19, 2019 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Dillashaw, the promotion’s reigning bantamweight champion, bowed
out just 32 seconds into Round 1 and failed in his bid to become a
simultaneous two-division titleholder. It was a result no one saw
coming. Cejudo fired out of the gates, pairing leg kicks with
rapid-fire punches upstairs. He pushed an off-balance Dillashaw
backward, stunned him with a partially blocked head kick and
dropped him to all fours with a well-placed right hand behind the
ear. Cejudo followed up with a ferocity he had rarely shown, even
as his dazed counterpart reached for a single-leg out of pure
desperation. Dillashaw was met with unanswered rights and lefts to
the head, leading referee
Kevin
MacDonald to call for the stoppage despite the Californian’s
protests. Dillashaw later relinquished the bantamweight
championship after it was revealed he failed a United States
Anti-Doping Agency drug test. A two-year suspension was
subsequently handed down.