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After suffering a litany of injuries at training camp and during his UFC Vegas 32 fight with Cory Sandhagen, TJ Dillashaw has only one thing in mind for the future.
“I want my belt back,” Dillashaw told reporters after pointing to Sandhagen via a shared call on Saturday night. “It’s my belt. I want to get it back. I was not impressed by [Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan’s] last Stand. I think Yan will win [in the rematch]; Aljamain didn’t look very good, and it’s him that I see fighting next.
As MMA Fighting previously reported, Sterling and Yan verbally agreed to rematch on October 30 for UFC 267 in Abu Dhabi; Sterling won the belt at UFC 259 by disqualification after being unable to continue due to an illegal knee that Yan landed.
Sterling called for a fight with the winner on Saturday, and Dillashaw emerged victorious after being laid off for more than two years due to an anti-doping suspension. The two-time UFC bantamweight champion was back in the winning column for the first time since defending his belt in 2018 in a rematch against former teammate Cody Garbrandt.
Sandhagen was also a former training partner and gave Dillashaw everything he could manage over five laps. But Dillashaw also felt his performance was “a bit lazy” and resulted in unnecessary damage, including a knee that burst when he hesitated to remove his leg from an attempted submission from Sandhagen in the first round.
“I’m happy with the performance – I got the win, but I can do a lot better than that,” said Dillashaw.
Dillashaw also suffered several injuries in training camp, he said, after a drama-free preparation for his scheduled first fight with Sandhagen at UFC Vegas 26 in May, which was put back due to a cut. he suffered in training.
“The May 8 camp went well – other than getting cut I was able to practice,” said Dillashaw. “The second camp around, I couldn’t stay healthy. The first injury was pinching this nerve in my foot doing a slider, and until two days ago I had to train in shoes. Then I tore my MCL in my right knee and injured my left shoulder. So it was a real difficult camp.
“I didn’t want to talk about it, because I didn’t want to find excuses. I just needed to get out. It was too long. There was no way I was going to retire from the fight.
The cut that delayed the fight was reopened on Saturday night, leaving a gash that required several stitches to close. It was all worth it for Dillashaw, who arrived at UFC APEX looking to shake off the demons of his recent past by performing well for his family and friends – not the critics who called him cheater.
“It was normal, but a little more nervous,” he said. “I tried to hide it. I tried to say, ‘No, I like the nerves, it’s okay.’ But I was a little more nervous. But I thrive on this stuff.
Dillashaw, however, also admitted that it was important to show the world he could fight without the performance-enhancing drug, Recombinant Human Erythropoietin (EPO) that derailed his career over two years ago. .
“I wanted to make sure everyone sees this cardio,” he said with a smile.
Whether it’s February or March until he fights again, Dillashaw has said he’ll happily wait for his title shot. He also praised the idea of serving as backup on Fight Island in case Sterling or Yan couldn’t fight. Any opportunity to get your belt back is good.
As for the rationale, Dillashaw said she wasn’t looking for it.
“I did what I did for myself and for my family,” he said. “I’m happier that my son got to see me win tonight. I forgot to yell at him on the microphone afterwards, and I regret it, but I don’t care what other people think. If you care about what other people think of you in this world, you are doing the wrong things.
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