After a two-year absence, T.J. Dillashaw is set to return to the octagon and fight as one of the top competitors in the UFC bantamweight division. With Dillashaw ready to step back into the UFC spotlight, we should remind ourselves just how much of an impact T.J. can have by taking a look at his top-five fights of all time.
Coming into the Ultimate Fighter bantamweight tournament finale, T.J. Dillashaw had yet to lose in his first four professional fights and was favored to defeat a more experienced Josh Dodson.
The fight started quickly, with both fighters looking to get an early edge, and it was Dodson who landed the first big blow forcing Dillashaw to back off. T.J. was able to recover and land a few significant kicks to keep himself in the match, but Josh Dodson fended off the attack and countered with a solid left that stunned Dillashaw. Dodson took advantage and put T.J. Dillashaw with another punch and forced the official to stop the fight. While Dillashaw was unable to walk away the victor of the Ultimate Fighter tournament, this fight showed the promise of what was yet to come for the young fighter.
Dillashaw and Barao had two epic UFC fights that could both make this top-five list, so we've decided to put them together under one entry.
In their very first bout, Dillashaw came into the fight as a monumental underdog with little perceived chance of walking away with a victory, but T.J. would prove the oddsmakers wrong by winning via TKO in the fifth round. This massive upset by Dillashaw is still considered one of the most impressive underdog victories in the history of the UFC. Not only did Dillashaw prove the oddsmakers wrong, his victory made him the UFC bantamweight titleholder.
The second bout between these two fighters came a year later as Renan Barao stepped into the octagon for a chance to regain the bantamweight championship belt. Learning their lesson from the previous bout, oddsmakers had Dillashaw as a slight favorite to retain the title and after three intense rounds of action, Dillashaw once again defeated Barao in the fourth to defend his title.
In 2016, T.J. Dillashaw was set to defend his bantamweight title belt against Dominick "The Dominator" Cruz. Experts and fans alike expected this to be an even matchup with neither fighter stepping into the octagon as a clear favorite.
Dillashaw and Cruz made sure that this bout lived up to every expectation taking it the distance without a KO or submission. The fight was so even, that the judges couldn't come up with a unanimous decision, and Dominick Cruz was awarded Dillashaw's title belt due to a split decision.
At the main event at UFC 227, Dillashaw was set to defend his bantamweight title against top challenger Cody Garbrandt. Garbrandt entered this match with only one UFC loss to 11 victories and posed a real threat to take T.J.'s title. As with many main event title defenses, there was no clear favorite in this bout.
T.J. Dillashaw went on the offensive early bringing the fight to the challenger Garbrandt. Cody Garbrandt was forced to go on the defensive throughout the first round, but shortly after the four-minute mark, T.J. Dillashaw was able to claim victory via KO.
In January 2019, T.J. Dillashaw was granted a flyweight title fight against champion Henry Cejudo. This match isn't only memorable due to the action in the ring, but it was fallout after the fight that led to T.J. imminent suspension.
Cejudo dominated this match claiming victory when the official stopped the fight just 30 seconds into the bout to retain the title. However, the headline of this match would turn out to be Dillashaw's pre-fight drug test. The result of the pre-fight test came out after the fight was over and revealed that Dillashaw tested positive for a banned substance. This positive test would result in the two-year suspension which has just recently expired.
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