For T.J. Dillashaw, UFC 227 was supposed to be the set-up for a fight against all-time great, Demetrious Johnson. But while Dillashaw did his job that night and knocked out Cody Garbrandt in their rematch, Johnson came up short, losing a contentious decision to Henry Cejudo and derailing Dillashaw’s potential superfight.
Or perhaps it hasn’t.
On the most recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience MMA Show, Dillashaw revealed that he is now targeting the same flyweight superfight he wanted before, just with the new champion in place of ‘Mighty Mouse.’
“The Henry Cejudo thing entertains me so much because he’s a gold medalist,” Dillashaw told Rogan. “He wants to claim himself as the greatest combat athlete ever. ‘I’m a UFC champion, I’m a gold medalist!’ I’ll go out there and beat you in wrestling. MMA wrestling is completely different. I’m the better athlete. I can beat him anywhere, I know I can, watching him fight. That’s why I’m very excited about it. I think it’s the greatest thing for my name right now.”
Dillashaw currently sits atop one of the most log-jammed divisions in MMA, with contenders Dominick Cruz, Marlon Moraes, and Raphael Assuncao all clamoring for a title shot. Meanwhile, given the controversial nature of Cejudo’s win, a trilogy match with Johnson would seem like the most obvious next step; except Johnson is currently injured with no set return date. That would seem to open the door for the superfight - something the UFC has been gravitating towards more and more in recent years - and Dillashaw says he believes the UFC is interested in making it happen.
“There’s been nothing serious but there’s been hints and we did our media tour together and they put us on camera together and had us talk s**t to each other,” Dillashaw said. “They didn’t say that because everything is real but it’s like, ‘ Oh s**t, this is what you guys want! Okay, you really think you can beat me? Then f**k you man, let’s do this s**t!’”
After Cejudo beat Johnson, he immediately called out the winner of the Dillashaw-Garbrandt rematch, saying he deserved it and wanted a shot at the bantamweight title. But now that the fight is potentially on the horizon, Dillashaw says he and Cejudo have spoken and that the new flyweight champion is okay with Dillashaw dropping down for the bout.
“Hell yeah! [At] 125, absolutely,” Dillashaw said. “I don’t want no excuses that I’m the bigger man. . .
“He told me face to face he’s willing to do it at 125. That’s what he first said after the fight. He wanted the superfight, so he said he’d come up to 135. I said, ‘If we’re doing this, I’m coming down to 125’ and he said he had no problem with that.”
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VIDEO STEW
Live Chat.
Thug Diaries.
The Funk Chronicles.
Remix.
Woodley-Till cartoon.
TTTHS.
LISTEN UP
Heavy Hands. Discussing the greatness of UFC 228 and previewing UFC Moscow.
Bushido Talk. Discussing Conor getting sued and Werdum getting USADA’d.
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
‘Chuck has that look in his eye.’
The third fight is on! @ChuckLiddell vs @titoortiz Saturday, Nov 24 @theforum LIVE on PPV. #OrtizLidell3 pic.twitter.com/0yP03BnTBt
— Golden Boy Boxing (@GoldenBoyBoxing) September 12, 2018
The other fight poster that dropped. Much different vibe.
Also, the @lyotomachidafw will make his @Bellatormma debut in Hawaii
— Scott Coker (@ScottCoker) September 12, 2018
Mahalo pic.twitter.com/kTlwv7OuWE
BJ is totally going over to Bellator.
Aloha pic.twitter.com/aptSyq3GFe
— Scott Coker (@ScottCoker) September 12, 2018
right on
— BJ Penn (@bjpenndotcom) September 12, 2018
Conor.
The fight king. pic.twitter.com/HPQcaSiFZc
— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) September 12, 2018
Ah yes, the mean streets of West Linn.
— Chael Sonnen (@ChaelSonnen) September 12, 2018
Goals.
Records are meant to be broken. I set the record defending my heavyweight title three consecutive times. I fully intend on being the same one to break that record. #SM pic.twitter.com/XSDj7Z1Hga
— Stipe Miocic (@stipemiocic) September 13, 2018
Staying positive.
Yep gotta work a few bugs out. I was close to all these punches but still far from finishing the fight. Gotta make some changes before my next fight comes around. Not perfect and still working on be better. New day new start. pic.twitter.com/Vj5A1vwore
— John Dodson III (@JohnDodsonMMA) September 12, 2018
Wants those hands.
Miss the feeling of being able to train, should be cleared soon. congratulations @zabit_mma on an amazing performance. Hopefully your business with @chadmendes can wait so we can settle ours. pic.twitter.com/aT8nQEyFfo
— Yair Rodriguez (@panteraufc) September 12, 2018
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Lyoto Machida (24-8) vs. Rafael Carvalho (15-2); Bellator Hawaii, Dec. 15.
B.J. Penn (16-12-2) vs. Ryan Hall (6-1); UFC 232, Dec. 29.
TODAY IN MMA HISTORY
2014: Andrei Arlovski knocked out Antonio Silva in the main event of UFC Fight Night 51.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Thanks for reading and see y’all tomorrow!
EXIT POLL
Poll
Who should Dillashaw fight next?
This poll is closed
-
15%
Cejudo
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45%
Moraes
-
28%
Cruz
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9%
Assuncao
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