On Saturday night, T.J. Dillashaw gave one of the gutsiest fighting performances in the UFC’s 28-year history. Dillashaw busted his knee in round one and suffered a gruesome cut – in a very, very bad place on his right eyebrow – in round two, requiring him to fight on while keeping his right hand taped to his face to keep his right eye from falling into a hundred pieces.
Seriously, trigger warning below:
He had to deal with all of this while facing one of the baddest 135-pounders on the planet, Cory Sandhagen, and after a two-and-a-half year layoff. Through all this, Dillashaw battled on. And while his split decision victory over Sandhagen comes with controversy – the majority of fans, journalists and onlookers, including myself, thought Sandhagen won rounds 2, 4 and 5 – it was a monumental achievement for a fighter who had an incredible amount working against him.
To many, Dillashaw will always remain a villain no matter what, owing to a 2-year USADA suspension after being busted for using EPO – the shit that Lance Armstrong used – following his loss to Henry Cejudo in early 2019. That, of course, disregards the fact that the majority of UFC fighters are relying on chemical in some way, form or fashion. Dillashaw was dumb enough to get caught, and that deserves some scorn in and of itself, but let’s not pretend he was taking advantage of clean opponents.
But even the most dyed-in-the-wool Dillashaw hater has to respect the guts he showed on Saturday night. He needed every ounce of those guts to power himself past Sandhagen, a stone-cold killer who himself put on a fantastic performance in the biggest fight of his career. It was clear that the T.J. Dillashaw who showed up on Saturday was no longer separated from the pack at 135. Bantamweight is the toughest division in the sport, and it’s only gotten tougher since last Dillashaw ruled the roost.
Dillashaw had plenty of moments on the feet, but the balance of the offense belonged to Sandhagen, who looked extremely sharp. There were moments I wasn’t sure how Dillashaw was still going. We saw glimpses of the ideal form of Cory Sandhagen on Saturday – a striker mixing the pace and volume of his early UFC career with the bloodlust and finishing drive that we’ve seen in his last few fights.
If anything, Sandhagen might have given Dillashaw the fight by being a little bit too loose, too comfortable in the striking game: he attempted quite a few spinning attacks that Dillashaw was quick to pounce on, dragging into the clinch. Although Dillashaw’s wrestling attack was largely ineffective in getting Sandhagen to the ground – 2-19 on takedown attempts – he had over eight minutes of control, largely against the cage. That might have tipped the scales in the judges’ eyes, even as Sandhagen got the better of him striking.
For wide swathes of that fight, if you asked the uneducated who the former world champion was, they would have picked Sandhagen. But a thing about champions is that they find a way, even in the most dire of circumstances. Circumstances were indeed quite dire for Dillashaw. And I don’t want to make it seem like it was one-sided: Dillashaw’s chin looked as good as it has in years, and he showed some real strong signs of still being the extremely potent offensive fighter he was at his best.
The decision wasn’t a good one, but that doesn’t necessarily make it a robbery. T.J. Dillashaw deserved to come away with something out of that performance – it’s just a shame it came at the expense of such a thrillingly talented young star as Sandhagen. But neither fighter is adversely affected. Sandhagen may not be the next title challenger at 135, but his star has not dimmed one bit.
And Dillashaw may not have looked like he’s the best in the world anymore, but he’s silenced a lot of doubts about where he fits in among the bantamweight best. Sandhagen is unanimously considered one of the top 135-pounders in the world, and Dillashaw battled with him tooth-and-nail, looking like he belonged in there with Sandhagen after two and a half years away. He even found a way to get his hand raised, controversial or not.
Yes, the UFC bantamweight division is the world’s toughest pool to swim in. And it just got a hell of a lot more interesting.
The Big Fight 