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T.J. Dillashaw Thinks Urijah Faber Should’ve Stayed Retired
T.J. Dillashaw isn’t convinced that Urijah Faber has what it takes to compete at an elite level in 2019.
Faber hasn’t competed since Dec. 2016. He went one-on-one with Brad Pickett in Sacramento, California. “The California Kid” won the bout via unanimous decision in front of the hometown crowd. Faber walked away from mixed martial arts competition and was later inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
Fast forward to 2019 and Faber is preparing for his return. The former WEC featherweight ruler is scheduled to meet Ricky Simon on July 13 at UFC Sacramento. Dillashaw, Faber’s former training partner at Team Alpha Male, doesn’t believe it’s the right call.
Dillashaw was a guest on Chael Sonnen’s “You’re Welcome” podcast and he explained why he isn’t sold on Faber having success in his return (via BJPenn.com):
“I could always tell you when he retired that it was going to be his last fight. To be honest, on a technical level he probably maybe should’ve stayed retired, especially with young and hungry guys coming up. But, I’m hoping he’s not hurting for money, even though we’ve had our beefs and whatever, you never want to wish that kind of bad on someone. Personally I think he should’ve stayed retired but we’ll see, we’ll see how it comes out.”
Dillashaw had a nasty split from Team Alpha Male. The former two-time UFC bantamweight champion said that the beef with Faber was never manufactured:
“Oh yeah, absolutely [it was real]. It [the bad blood] is real. He’s the one who created the whole beef by forcing me out of the gym. He gave me the ultimatum, but when I left, I was the bad guy.”
Dillashaw is currently serving a two-year suspension for EPO use. He will not be eligible to compete again until Jan. 2019. It’ll be just a few weeks shy of his 35th birthday.
