TJ Dillashaw, the UFC’s bantamweight champion and one of the most dynamic fighters in the world was flagged by USADA for the use of performance enhancing drugs… what exactly does this mean? What’s going to happen to the bantamweight division? What are we going to make of Dillashaw now?
The sport of mixed martial arts has officially found its way into the top 4 sports in the United States. The UFC’s partnership with ESPN has completely changed the game. MMA is spreading like wildfire as fighters are getting better and viewership is increasing. But everyone and everything has obstacles in life. MMA’s biggest obstacle has always been the use of performance enhancing drugs. Numerous MMA superstars have tested positive for performance enhancing drug use, including Jon Jones, Josh Barnett, Vitor Belfort, etc. Well now we can add TJ Dillashaw to that list.
Dillashaw is coming off a recent knockout loss to the hands of UFC flyweight champion, Henry Cejudo. Dillashaw went down a weight class, attempting to contend for the UFC flyweight championship. In the process of doing so, Dillashaw started losing weight 12 weeks out from his fight. His theory in doing so is that it prevented him from undergoing a brutal and unhealthy weight cut the week of the fight.
Well it just so happens that getting ran through was not going to be the only embarrassment Dillashaw would have to go through. USADA informed Dillashaw of their findings and the bantamweight kingpin took to instagram to let his fans know of the unfortunate news. He explained that he would do more research into the matter to find out what happened. He then went on to say that he will be out for one year and relinquished his bantamweight title…
Now that we have the backstory out of the way, we can get to the point. And I’m not trying to jump the gun here, but what the fuck is going on? How are all these fighters continuously getting caught for PED use when they know USADA is swarming down their throat before and after each fight. What in the living hell is wrong with TJ Dillashaw? How is this man going to take pride in his work ethic and fitness regimen and then go on to get caught for PED use?
Many people have been saying that he didn’t do it. Many people are saying that there may have been an extremely minimal amount of illegal substances in his system? Many people are even saying that he could be undergoing the same process regarding these drugs, as Jon Jones did with the picograms. Well I just have one thing to say to that. Why is he relinquishing his title? If he truly believed he was innocent he would fight this case and keep his title.
I’m not going to go ahead and deface TJ Dillashaw’s name just yet due to the fact that the public has not grasped ahold of what exactly is going on. But man this news is just disappointing to here. These superstars leave a dark stain on their greatness when they get caught cheating. Anderson Silva’s legacy went down the drain. Jon Jones has an asterisk next to his name whenever you think of him now. TJ Dillashaw will be no different moving forward.
As for the UFC’s bantamweight division, things just got a lot more interesting. There are quite a few contenders itching to get that title shot. We just know Marlon Moraes will be one of the two fighters to get that call. “Magic” Moraes is a carnal beast inside the octagon. This guy hurts people. Plain and simple. He was recently caught trading jabs with Henry Cejudo on twitter, telling him to “stay in his lane.” Cejudo has looked like one of the best fighters on the planet, coming off two consecutive wins against Demetrious Johnson and TJ Dillashaw. A fight with Moraes would be a fight of the year candidate. Moraes is extremely dangerous on the ground and the on the feet so Cejudo would have a tough time exploiting his weaknesses. That’s the fight that needs to happen. That’s the fight to make for the fans.
And with that, TJ Dillashaw has officially joined the ranks of the greatest cheaters to ever live. Yet another great fighter who’s career has been tarnished because they had to take a shortcut.
