Former UFC featherweight champion and current bantamweight contender Jose Aldo isn’t convinced that fellow former champ T.J. Dillashaw still has what it takes to keep up with the UFC elite. Dillashaw has only recently returned from a two-year suspension incurred when he failed a drug test for EPO, and will attempt to recapture 135-pound gold against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 280. Jose Aldo told Canal Encarda that he doesn’t think Dillashaw will get the job done, and brought Dillashaw’s entire record into question.
“No disrespect to T.J., he’s a great athlete, but I think his time has gone. These two years he stayed out and not testing himself. I’ll say this, man, outside [of] fighting, the doping situation, everything he’s built, we don’t know how it was, if it really was his body because, you like it or not, when antidoping got more strict, he got punched twice and went down.
Jose Aldo: Dillashaw’s Record In Question After Doping Violation
It’s not the same thing when he fought and [doping] was more open. That, no doubt, makes a huge difference. If he’s getting in there and trying to prove [himself] to his own head, he already starts with an opponent inside himself, to see if he can do the things he did before the doping. So, to me, Sterling is a big favorite in this fight.”
Aldo is still aiming for a bantamweight title shot of his own, stringing together three consecutive victories after he was mauled by Petr Yan on Fight Island in 2020. He’ll face Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 278 this weekend, and hopes to take the winner of Sterling vs Dillashaw for his next fight.
“I respect my next opponent a lot, I’ll always respect [them], but I’ll win and then become champion, no matter if it’s Sterling or TJ. It doesn’t matter. I’m reaching my prime again. I’m getting better. Regardless of who I’m fighting for the title, I will win. And then, when I win, I have the goal to close my career. But, of course, let’s respect [Merab]. One step at a time. I’ll win against Merab, then I’ll take the second step and the third, and everybody will know what I want.
Like I said, we have to get in there and win. Everybody talks about me being the next contender already. The UFC knows that, I think everybody knows that. Dana [White], Sean [Shelby], everybody knows what I’ve been doing. I talk to them as well, the fact I don’t want to sit and wait, that beating Merab, I’ll definitely be the next to challenge for the bantamweight title. It doesn’t need to be by knockout, just go there and win. Of course, if it’s quick and easy, then it impresses even more, but there’s no doubt I’m the next contender.”
Is Jose Aldo the unlikely Renaissance man that T.J. Dillashaw claims to be? Is he right about Dillashaw’s doping? Let us know what you think in the comments.
