Henry Cejudo questions the motivation behind T.J. Dillashaw’s decision to retire.
Dillashaw (17-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC), who recently underwent shoulder surgery, notified the UFC of his retirement earlier this week and was removed from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s testing pool. The news came as a surprise, especially after Dillashaw said he wasn’t going anywhere in the wake of his title loss to Aljamain Sterling at UFC 280.
Cejudo believes that perhaps Dillashaw is just trying to avoid getting tested by USADA, not because he thinks he’s using performance-enhancing drugs again, but because of the inevitable frequent visits that they’ll be paying him when he’s out of competition.
“Is T.J. Dillashaw really retired?” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel. “The first thing that comes to mind was – which I don’t think he’s dumb enough to do that, is maybe he got busted again. I don’t think that’s the case. I think T.J. Dillashaw is getting surgery again, which I believe that’s true, and I don’t think he wants USADA knocking on that door every other week.
“Guys, it gets annoying. As much as I love USADA … it’s a lot of tests, guys. It takes a lot of time and effort and time away from your family. So, me automatically thinking T.J. Dillashaw’s retiring, no, I think it’s just for him to not really get tested by USADA. I guarantee you with T.J. Dillashaw they’re probably taking blood every single time and that stuff just is not cool.”
Cejudo defended his flyweight title against Dillashaw when he stopped him by TKO in just 32 seconds. It was after that fight that Dillashaw tested positive for EPO in his attempt to cut down to 125 pounds.
Dillashaw, a two-time bantamweight champion, was oozing confidence ahead of his title fight against champion Sterling, but a reoccurring shoulder dislocation in training camp caused his shoulder to give out in the fight. Although 36-year-old Dillashaw apparently is now retired, Cejudo thinks he’ll come back.
“Do I believe the retirement?” Cejudo said. “I believe he’s out, but I believe when he’s starting to get ready to come back in this thing, he’s gonna put his name back in the hat.”
He continued, “He is one of the greatest bantamweights of all time, but I just think that asterisk of him – now you start to wonder if this dude was always fair, if he was always playing honest. I think that’s the biggest thing. I don’t know, it’s hard for me to compliment T.J., especially when he only lasted 32 seconds with me.”