Former bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw has leveled a swath of insults at current 135-pound king Aljamain Sterling this week.
In a recent interview, Dillashaw, who’s set to face Sterling for divisional gold at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi in October, teed off on his opponent’s “low level” striking and questioned his accolades as a grappler.
“I haven’t been impressed with his wrestling,” Dillashaw told MMA Junkie. “He’s a [Division III] wrestler, and I’ve been wrestling D1. I think his takedown defence is under 50 percent. His striking is … it’s embarrassing that he’s the champion his striking is that bad. It’s God awful. He uses his awkwardness to his advantage, but when you start throwing with him he just cowers. I don’t know. There’s a lot there. I can out-grapple you, I can out-strike you. I’m going to put on a clinic.”
Dillashaw, now 36, last fought Cory Sandhagen to a split decision win to earn himself the number one contender’s spot following a two-year suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs. Sterling is on a seven-fight win streak into what will be his second title defence.
The AllStar MMA roundup
- Inside Scoop: What does an MMA manager do for a fighter? An insider’s view
- UFC 278: Sean Woodson claims Luis Saldaña ‘doesn’t like dealing with pressure’
- UFC 278: Yanan Wu feeling “peaceful” ahead of Lucie Pudilova fight, plans diverse striking attack
- UFC 278: It’s hard for Jay Perrin to feel threatened by Aoriqileng when ‘he’s been sat down by flyweights’
The best of the rest
- Jose Aldo: T.J. Dillashaw’s feats in question after EPO suspension – MMAFighting.com
- Demetrious Johnson recounts time Dana White called him a ‘dumb ass’ and UFC threatened to close flyweight division – MMAFighting.com
- Dana White’s Contender Series 50 results: All five winners receive a UFC contract – MMAjunkie.com
- Luke Rockhold says a win at UFC 278 should get him a title shot: ‘I’m not going to do anything else’ – BloodyElbow.com
- Henry Cejudo encourages Dominick Cruz to keep fighting: ‘I think there’s still a lot in you’ – MMAJunkie.com
The soapbox
Max Holloway’s chin finally gives out:
Dana White on Shane Burgos’ UFC departure:
Paulo saying Paulo things:
Islam is in the trenches with Nasrat Haqparast and Mark Madsen:
The Diaz brothers’ protege wants a shot at Bo Nickal:
Chase Hooper fades Jake Paul:
The morning view
JHK updates the Fight or Flight vlog after some bumps in the road:
UFC 278 Embedded episode two drops:
Dan Hardy breaks down Jose Aldo vs Merab Dvalishvilli:
Done deals
This week
- Jared Cannonier to fight Sean Strickland at UFC event on October 15th (per Ariel Helwani)
- Mike Trizano to fight SeungWoo Choi at UFC 281 on November 12 (per Marcel Dorff)
- Robbie Lawler to fight Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC 282 on December 10th (per Brett Okamoto)
- Fares Ziam will fight Michal Figlak at UFC Paris on September 3rd (per La Sueur)
- L.Vannata out, Andre Fili will now fight Bill Algeo at UFC event on September 17th (per Iridium Sports)
- Dominick Reyes to fight Ryan Spann at UFC 281 on November 12th (per MMA Junkie)
- Derek Brunson to fight Jack Hermansson at UFC event on December 3rd (per Ariel Helwani)
- Mike Jackson to fight Pete Rodriguez at UFC event on October 15th (per MMA Junkie)
- Tim Means to fight Max Griffin at UFC event on October 29th (per Farah Hannoun)
- Charles Jourdain to fight Nathaniel Wood at UFC Paris on September 3rd (per Al Zullino)
- Tresean Gore to fight Josh Fremd at UFC event on October 29th (per Mike Heck)
On this day in MMA…
On the 17th of August, 2013, two future UFC champions would collide in the early stages of their respective careers when Conor McGregor and Max Holloway met inside the octagon at UFC Fight Night 26 in Boston, Massachusetts. This event was also known as UFC on Fox 1.
McGregor would walk away with a unanimous decision victory over a 21-year-old Holloway after the full 15-minute duration of their fight – McGregor’s only decision victory until three years later in his rematch with Nate Diaz.
