Top bantamweight contender Aljamain Sterling got a good laugh out of T.J. Dillashaw’s insistence that he receive a title shot upon his UFC return.
Former bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw has been suspended from competition by USADA since 2019 after testing positive for EPO but is already eligible to make his return. When Dillashaw competes again, he believes that it should be for the world title. He even went so far as to call current champion Petr Yan the “interim champion.”
Petr Yan’s first title defense will not be against Dillashaw but against “The Funkmaster” Aljamain Sterling at UFC 259. Sterling is aware of Dillashaw’s request for an immediate title shot when he returns, and he did not mince words when sharing his thoughts on the topic.
“I think it’s kind of laughable,” Sterling told James Lynch in an interview with Fanatic Views. “I mean, the guy’s been cheating almost his entire UFC career. And if he thinks that warrants an immediate title shot…I mean, I guess in terms of what he’s done, but he’s also done it cheating this whole time.”
Aljamain Sterling Imagines Harsh Encounter With Dillashaw
Aljamain Sterling believes that Dillashaw’s success in MMA is a story of luck and all the accruements that cheating can get you in life, whether it’s championships, boats, investment money, and all the other spoils one can enjoy. But he thinks that if Dillashaw truly believes he is as good as he thinks he is, reality will treat him much harsher than it has up to this point.
Furthermore, Sterling believes Dillashaw’s proclamations of innocence and/or any statement of his bantamweight superiority will be viciously debunked if he and Dillashaw are ever paired together.
“I think he’s got to make himself feel comfortable so he can sleep at night by telling himself stuff that is gonna make himself feel better,” Sterling said. “And if that’s what he’s gotta do to get up in the morning to get to work, I guess so. But if he fights a guy like me, mental warfare is gonna be a motherfucker because I’m gonna be attacking that guy and making him come to terms with reality and what it is.
“Like, ‘Dude, your whole career is tainted,” Sterling continued. “No matter what you wanna say, your whole career is tainted. Your old teammates already ratted you out for what you’ve been doing for years at this point. So if you feel like you’re that accomplished, apparently, you had a little bit of self-doubt and not enough belief in yourself and your skillset to need to cheat.’”
What’s your take on Aljamain Sterling’s harsh comments directed at T.J. Dillashaw?
