TJ Dillashaw News

Tom Taylor - May 10, 2018

For a fleeting moment earlier this year, it sounded as though UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw would drop down to flyweight to battle dominating divisional champ Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson in an incredible superfight. Regrettably, negotiations for this endlessly compelling contest stalled, and ultimately flat-lined.

Tom Taylor - May 10, 2018

Back in November, in the co-main event of UFC 217, TJ Dillashaw stepped into the cage with Cody Garbrandt in an attempt to reclaim the UFC bantamweight title. In the second round, Dillashaw succeeded on this mission, putting his rival down with a crackling combination.

Jason Kindschy - May 9, 2018

BJPENN.COM Radio is back in action, Penn Nation! We kick things off with UFC bantamweight champ TJ Dillashaw. Last time the champ joined us, the super-fight against “Mighty Mouse” was all but finalized. Since then, the matchup has been shelved and TJ now faces former champion and rival Cody Garbrandt in a rematch at UFC 227 on August 4th. We’ll get TJ’s perspective on what went wrong with negotiations to fight Demetrious and if he feels that fight will eventually materialize. We’ll also preview the second bout with Cody, get TJ’s pick for the Lomachenko vs Linares fight this weekend, and much more.

Drake Riggs - April 19, 2018

Once upon a time, all was well in the California city of Sacramento. The top MMA gym for lighter weight fighters, Team Alpha Male was thriving with talented members all atop their respective divisions. Everyone got along just fine…! Then one day…it all would change. A member would disband from the team and reasons to why were verbally thrown all over from seemingly everyone with a voice.

Drake Riggs - April 4, 2018

The UFC 217 aftermath continues to lay out. After receiving a new contract today, a fight has come along with it for UFC bantamweight champion, TJ Dillashaw. After reports from BJPenn.com’s own Chris Taylor of negotiations taking place for a super fight between Dillashaw and flyweight champion, Demetrious Johnson going down, they would eventually fizzle out. This led to the likelihood of a Dillashaw vs Cody Garbrandt rematch.

Chris Taylor - March 24, 2018

Cody Garbrandt takes aim at T.J. Dillashaw and Raphael Assuncao! Former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt is looking to score an immediate rematch with former teammate turned bitter rival T.J. Dillashaw.

Drake Riggs - March 22, 2018

If we ever end up seeing UFC flyweight champion, Demetrious Johnson and UFC bantamweight champion, TJ Dillashaw squaring off inside the octagon, it apparently won’t be anytime too soon. Rumors were afloat for a while that Johnson and Dillashaw could have been seeing each other across the cage as soon as July for the big international fight week UFC 226 card. Johnson even eventually confirmed that negotiations were going down.

Justin Golightly - March 14, 2018

We’re all waiting for it. We all believe it’s the only fight for the UFC to make right now. Yet, there has been little progress made in getting a fight with TJ Dillashaw done since Demetrious Johnson revealed they were in negotiations. Both fighters were holding out for the best deal, but it seems like the UFC is hesitant. The UFC flyweight champion’s reaction? He just shrugged like when the UFC threatened to close his division the last time he tried to negotiate. If the TJ Dillashaw fight doesn’t go down, he’ll fight whoever is next in line and move on. “At the end of the day, UFC is a business. TJ [Dillashaw] obviously just won the belt and he’s been the champ for maybe five or six months, and so there’s still a line of contenders he could fight in the division. You have your Dominick Cruz, Jimmie Rivera, the Cody Garbrandt rematch, so they have options for that one. Whereas for me, I have options as well and rematches and whatever. But I think TJ wants this fight because it is probably a bigger paycheck for him, and hopefully for me too, so we’ll see what the UFC wants to do.”

Justin Golightly - February 21, 2018

Despite the UFC trying to put together a rematch with Cody Garbrandt for the bantamweight title to save UFC 222, TJ Dillashaw has his eyes on the long-hyped superfight with UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson. Other than Johnson himself saying it is in negotiations, not much else has been said publicly about the scrap. Along with giving the reasons why Garbrandt doesn’t deserve a shot, Dillashaw also spoke on Monday that all roads seem to still point to the match-up to go ahead and slide in that co-main even slot for UFC 226. “I haven’t really heard much in the sense of [the fight with Demetrious Johnson being official]. They’re just telling me to get healthy, so obviously I’ve been doing some physical therapy and working on getting healthy and staying ready, and yeah, continuing to watch my body [composition], staying low [in weight] if this thing really happens. They know I want it. Demetrious wants it. He’s talking about how he wants to be on a big card; there’s a perfectly big card for it now coming up in July. They got Stipe [Miocic] and [Daniel] Cormier [headlining UFC 226], so all of the stars seem to be aligning. It’s just all about getting it done now.”

Tom Taylor - February 20, 2018

Back in November, in the co-main event of UFC 217, TJ Dillashaw reclaimed the UFC bantamweight title, surviving a first-round knockdown to stop Cody Garbrandt with a volley of second-round punches. Since then, the former champion Garbrandt has been outspoken in his desire for an immediate rematch. Garbrandt’s calls reached a crescendo when UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway was forced out of his UFC 222 title fight with Frankie Edgar, leaving the card without a main event. It was his hope that he and Dillashaw would rematch in card’s new headlining bout.

Tom Taylor - February 12, 2018

One of the most talked about fights in MMA at present is a possible flyweight superfight between divisional king Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson, and reigning UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw. As the former mentor of the bantamweight champ TJ Dillashaw, the probably-retired Urijah Faber is watching on intently as this possible scrap edges toward fruition. While Faber is a little more interested in Dillashaw’s options at bantamweight, he does believe Dillashaw can make the flyweight division’s 125-pound.

Justin Golightly - February 8, 2018

Demetrious Johnson versus TJ Dillashaw. The UFC flyweight champion fighting the UFC bantamweight champion in an ultra high level MMA double title fight. It’s a match-up that everyone has been clamoring for, but still some people aren’t in favor of it. Although, it’s easy to see why Dominick Cruz isn’t keen on the idea. If you count the WEC bantamweight title which the UFC absorbed, Cruz was the bantamweight king from 2010 until he was stripped due to injuries in 2014. A title he nearly immediately got back upon his return from Dillashaw himself. The very same title he wants back. “I think [the bantamweight championship] should be my next fight, but they play weird games where they want to give TJ Dillashaw an easier fight because he doesn’t want to fight somebody hard right after he won the title. He wants an easy fight. So, he wants to fight somebody that he knows he can keep the belt a little longer before he knows he gets a really hard fight, whereas I went TJ Dillashaw, Urijah Faber, Cody Garbrandt and then I lose the belt. Let’s go TJ. I beat you. Don’t you want to get that back? Stop going down and looking for little baby boys at 125. Silly Dilly, that’s what I call him.”

Drake Riggs - February 7, 2018

“I think that should be my next fight [TJ Dillashaw]. But…they(the UFC) play weird games where, they want to give TJ Dillashaw a little bit of an easier fight because he doesn’t want to fight somebody hard right after he won the title, he wants the easy fight. He wants to fight someone that he knows he can keep the belt a little longer before he gets a really hard fight. Whereas I go TJ Dillashaw, Urijah Faber, Cody Garbrandt and then I lose the belt.

Tom Taylor - February 6, 2018

Lat last week, UFC featherweight champ Max Holloway was forced out of his UFC 222 scrap with Frankie Edgar, leaving the card without a headliner. From there, the UFC kicked off a desperate search for a suitable replacement main event. One of the options was a rematch between bantamweight champ TJ Dillashaw and former champ Cody Garbrandt, who fought back in November in a fight that saw Dillashaw weather a first-round scare to win by second-round KO. While talk of this potential do-over generated plenty of excitement, Dillashaw was pretty quick to express his complete disinterest in it. He did just beat Garbrandt, after all, and with a newborn son at home, and plans for a superfight with flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson in the works for July, the timing doesn’t make a lot of sense for him.

Tom Taylor - February 5, 2018

UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw has been vocal in his belief that, if he gets his desired fight with UFC flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson, the winner of said fight will be MMA’s pound-for-pound king. “[The fight is about] who’s the best pound-for-pound,” Dillashaw said on a recent episode of BJ Penn Radio. “It’s not some bullshit, hyped drama. This is what the sport is really about, it’s who is the best in the world. Demetrious got that number one spot. I feel like I’m the best fighter in the world, man, and I just want to prove it. DJ has my spot and I want to claim it. I’m the best pound-for-pound fighter. I had a couple split decision losses that I didn’t agree with it. If you throw those ones out of the way, I’d be on a 13 fight win streak, seven fight title defense. I’d be where I’m supposed to be, but this is the way for me to get to where I want to be. Demetrious is on top and it’s time for me to take him out.”

Chris Taylor - February 3, 2018

Cody Garbrandt and T.J. Dillashaw trade shots after rematch talks fall through the cracks! Earlier today ESPN’s Brett Okamoto announced that current UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway had suffered an injury and would no longer be able to compete in the main event of UFC 222 against Frankie Edgar.

Justin Golightly - February 3, 2018

After the crushing news of Max Holloway’s injury that will force him out of his UFC 222 title fight with Frankie Edgar, the UFC is absolutely scrambling to get a new main event. There are a ton of different directions that the organization could go with Jose Aldo, Cub Swanson, or even Darren Elkins if they keep Frankie Edgar on the card. A lot of fans and media were wondering if there would be yet another interim title put on the line, but is looks like the UFC has decided against that. The latest news on a replacement for Max Holloway is surging contender Brian Ortega in a non-title fight. UFC is working on salvaging 222. Obviously the card can’t be a PPV after losing that headliner (this is why not all second-to-last fights are “co-mains”). Might involve replacing Holloway vs Edgar or a new main altogether. Developing.

Tom Taylor - February 1, 2018

UFC 226, which goes down on July 7, is going to be headlined by a heavyweight superfight between reigning champion Stipe Miocic and reigning light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. And from the sounds of it, another blockbuster superfight is in the works for the card’s co-main event: a flyweight title fight between dominating divisional champ Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and current bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw. News of this targeted bout was first reported by BJPenn.com’s Chris Taylor.