On Saturday night at UFC Vegas 32, T.J. Dillashaw mounted a successful return from a two-year layoff. The former 135-pound champion scored a split decision win over number-two-ranked Cory Sandhagen, suffering a massive cut and an injured knee in the process.
But apparently, he was dealing with much more going into the contest. The 35-year-old veteran had his time with the media in a post-fight scrum and spoke about the list of injuries he endured during camp.
“I had a really, really, really, really rough camp. I didn’t even spar this whole camp,” he revealed. “The first camp going where we were supposed to fight May 8th, camp went smooth. Other than getting cut, I was able to spar, camp was going good.
“The second camp around, I could not stay healthy. First injury was I pinched this nerve in my (left) foot doing the slider board. And up until two days ago, I had to workout with shoes on. It was like the worst thing I could’ve been dealing with. And then I tore my MCL on my right knee, I hurt my left shoulder as well.
“It was a real rough camp and I didn’t want to obviously talk about it because I didn’t want to make no excuses. I just needed to get out there, it’s been too effing long. There’s no way I was gonna pull out from the fight.”
Since Dillashaw’s departure as the division’s champion in 2019, the belt has already changed hands thrice. And seeing how the competitive landscape is, he is liking his chances at a third title run.
“Daddy’s getting that belt easy. Easy money for that belt right now,” he told Daniel Cormier during the Octagon interview.
“As long as Yan and Sterling get their fight on pretty quick, I wanna fight. Otherwise, I’ll take someone else in the top five.”
The UFC is reportedly targeting the rematch between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan to take place at UFC 267 on October 30 in Abu Dhabi.
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