TJ Dillashaw’s return to the UFC this last weekend has plenty of commentators, fans, and athletes fired up. Aljamain Sterling, current bantamweight champion, has no patience for Dillashaw and his EPO-using ways, taking aim at the former champion’s supposed redemption arc.
Speaking with Fight Nation on Sirius XM, Sterling addressed Dillashaw’s comeback and a future bout between the twp directly:
“I have no problem with fighting him. The only issue I really have with T.J. Dillashaw that pisses me off is that he keeps saying that he came clean.
You didn’t come clean, you idiot! You got caught! You. Got. Caught. What universe are we living in?
And the UFC is pushing this narrative like, ‘Oh, he’s changing his life and he came clean’ and T.J.’s saying, ‘Oh, I’m so glad and relieved that I came clean about it.’ I’m like, bro. You idiot.”
Aljamain Sterling continued, blasting the UFC’s promotion of Dillashaw’s redemption narrative.
“The people who are eating this up just drive me nuts because I’m like, bro, you didn’t come clean, you got caught, you dummy.
There is a unique and clear difference between being caught and coming clean. You didn’t just, in the fight, say, ‘Hey man, I’ve gotta come clean about this, I cheated in that fight.’
No, no, no. You got caught because you pissed hot. Bro. This is the type of people that we deal with.”
Dillashaw has made no secret of his aim to reclaim the bantamweight title, of which he was stripped upon the revelation of his PED use. Sterling was unimpressed by Dillashaw’s most recent showing against Cory Sandhagen, a controversial split-decision win in favor of the former champ. Sterling doubts TJ Dillashaw’s honesty and integrity all the way down.
“I think T.J., ever since he fought John Dodson, I think since that fight he turned a corner and he turned a corner in a very different way. I’m gonna say it was definitely the ‘Needleshaw’ effect.”
I would definitely still fight him but I’m gonna always have it in the back of my mind that this guy’s probably finding another way to cheat. It is what it is.
I think he looked very different in that fight. He wasn’t as dominant as you typically see in a T.J. Dillashaw type of fight and I think there’s a reason for that.
You can look at that in terms of the MMA skill level has gotten better or he doesn’t have all the substances in terms of his cardio being the crazy machine that it always is, his recovery and everything.”
Do you agree with Sterling? Is Dillashaw’s redemption as hollow as he says? Let us know in the comments.
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