Former UFC bantamweight king TJ Dillashaw revealed this week that he is still dealing with major shoulder issues that will make a potential return to the Octagon highly unlikely.
Over the four years from 2014 to 2018, TJ Dillashaw was one of the very best mixed martial artists on the planet. The Ultimate Fighter Season 14 alum who built a reputation on the back of his wrestling evolved into one of the slickest strikers in the UFC.
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However, it all started to come crashing down in 2019 when he came up short in a bid to become a two-division champion against Henry Cejudo and then tested positive for a banned substance. He lost two years of his career and decided to address ongoing issues with his shoulders in the time away.
Yet, despite surgeries on both shoulders, the issues remained and it reared its ugly head again in an October 2022 loss to former 135-pound champion Aljamain Sterling. It forced the two-time bantamweight titlist to go under the knife again to correct his shoulder problems.
TJ Dillashaw has had three shoulder surgeries since 2022 loss to Aljamain Sterling
Following that procedure, it seemed like Dillashaw might be done as a fighter. But that started to change this year as TJ Dillashaw gave the impression he might be pondering a return to the cage in various social media posts chronicling his recovery from more surgeries on his shoulders.
Well, it seems that was all just hopeful thinking, and he will not be able to make another comeback to the UFC.
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“I can’t even raise my arm in the air yet … I’m f***ing done. You know what I mean? I was just forced outta the sport. It sucks because I feel like I had so much more to give still,” Dillashaw said on a Wednesday appearance on the Jaxxon Podcast.
During the conversation on the podcast hosted by UFC great Quinton Jackson and Luke Rockhold, the 38-year-old revealed that he has had three surgeries on his shoulder since his loss to Sterling two years ago. TJ Dillashaw ended his career with a record of 17-5. He scored wins over Cody Garbrandt, Renan Barao, and Cory Sandhagen during his career.
