“What I think [is] TJ [Dillashaw] should have stayed at his weight and should have done what he was supposed to do at 135 [pounds],” Raphael Assuncao told the media on Wednesday in Brazil. “He went down to 125 [pounds] and now… I’m sure he repent, you know, of what happened.
“He should have stayed at his weight class and take responsibility at his weight class. That’s what I think. I think he should have… Just like when I should have fought for the title before, and then Cody [Garbrandt] took my place and it didn’t go well twice for him.
“In the back of my mind I don’t want to be a hater but then I was like, ‘Yeah, see, that’s what you get. It should have been my turn,'” Assuncao continued. “Same with TJ, that’s what you get. You should have been defending your own title.”
At UFC Fortaleza this Saturday night, top UFC bantamweight contender Raphael Assuncao takes on Marlon Moraes in a rematch of their 2017 encounter. The winner will very likely be looking at the next bantamweight title shot against champion TJ Dillashaw.
For Assuncao, the argument could be made that he should have already gotten his first career title shot sooner as he’s 11-1 at 135-pounds with that lone loss coming to Dillashaw who he also holds a win over.
Instead, for Dillashaw’s most recent outing he decided to try his luck at 125-pounds where he challenged the flyweight champion Henry Cejudo for his title at UFC Brooklyn. Unfortunately for Dillashaw, Cejudo would spoil his divisional debut in just 32 seconds.
Now having had Dillashaw lose, it could present a longer waiting period if Cejudo is to rematch Dillashaw for the bantamweight title. If that will happen or not remains to be determined.
For the time being, all either Assuncao or Moraes can do is further make their case starting with UFC Fortaleza.
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 1/30/2019
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