Fun Fact Friday : TJ Dillishaw was the only champion ever ( I think ) to fight DOWN a weight class for double champ status.
By Three_Piece_and_a_Sod@
Obviously, he's got a tainted legacy with the EPO thing. But let’s not forget the road that was layed out before him. He wanted to fight Henry ( who had struggles making 125 ) and Cejudo was either too afraid to fight TJ at 35 or wanted too much $ from the UFC to move up so the UFC said forget it Hank we will just make TJ go down . And the double champ status was even more motivation for TJ to make 125
He only tested positive for the cut to 125 and stated in an interview with I believe brendan slob podcast(?) That he took it to help the weight cut to 125 cause it was way too brutal for him. Clearly it was from that pic , guy has veins on his Lats .But being the overly competitive guy he is, he wasn't gonna pull out. Depleted at 125 Cejudo finished him in 33 seconds , then he popped for EPO , suspended and lost his 135 belt . Talk about a bad career move. You cannot be a JBJ glazer and discredit TJ’s career.
There was then suspicion about whether he used it during previous fights, due to No Chin Garbrandts accusations about it, so USADA went back and tested his samples they had from his 2 title fights as well as his John linekar fight and all 3 were negative for EPO. (I could be wrong on linekar, but there was 3 total that USADA went back through) All clean.
If you want to see one of the best BW fights go back and watch TJ vs Renan Barao 1 . His career as a whole, though, before that drug test, he was the number 2 bantamweight in the world. No question about it. The dude was electric to watch. Would throw crazy volume when he wanted to, super light in his feet , slick stance changes mid combo , mixed in takedowns well, and could slip almost everyone. Dominick Cruz fight is also one of my favourites. Very high level matchup and very close fight.
All in all, TJ was one of the best 135rs to ever do it. I’d put him up there close to DJ as per skill level. But, for sure he's got an asterisk next to his name.