MONTREAL, QC - MARCH 16: T.J. Dillashaw reacts to his win over Issei Tamura in their bantamweight bout during the UFC 158 event at Bell Centre on March 16, 2013 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
TJ Dillashaw releases a statement following loss to Henry Cejudo
TJ Dillashaw had the chance to become the next champ-champ in the UFC. Arguably the best bantamweight of all-time was moving down in weight to take on flyweight champion, Henry Cejudo.
However, after 12 weeks of hard work of getting down to 125, Dillashaw’s night ended quickly. Cejudo landed several punches which rocked and dropped Dillashaw. Then, as Dillashaw was scrambling, the ref called the fight off at 32 seconds. Giving Dillashaw another loss, although a controversial one.
Following the fight, Dillashaw was upset and mad at the ref for stopping the fight.
“Sucks to have it stolen from me,” Dillashaw said at the post-fight press conference. “I worked my butt off. I’m so much better than that. It would be nice to actually get the chance to show it. It’s a title fight, it’s a champ versus champ fight and you’re gonna stop the fight like that? I’m on a single leg. He says, ‘Show me something.’ I said, ‘I’m OK.’ I’m on a single leg in a scramble, he stops punching, he’s defending a single leg and you’re gonna stop the fight? It’s just ridiculous, man. It’s pretty pathetic that I have better knowledge than that ref.”
“As you can tell, I’m a little frustrated,” Dillashaw added. “This shit needs to happen again — at flyweight. This is bullshit. I worked my ass off 12 weeks to get here to have it stolen from me in 30 seconds.”
Now, on Monday, Dillashaw plans on leading by example and accepting the loss.
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“Well F*#% that didn’t go as planned. Sorry to all my fans that I didn’t get to show all my hard work. Tough one to swallow having the fight taken from me like that. But I need to lead by example for my son and practice what I preach, brush my self off and pray that I get the chance to do it again,” Dillashaw’s post read.
Dillashaw has been clamoring for a rematch at 125 pounds against Cejudo. However, a title defense at bantamweight seems more likely for Dillashaw’s next fight.
