TJ Dillashaw scares by revealing details of serious injury and responds about possible return to MMA

T. Dillashaw at the UFC weigh-in (Photo: Reproduction/Instagram)

Retired since October 2022, TJ Dillashaw practically ruled out any possibility of returning to MMA. In an interview with former champion Quinton's podcastRampage' Jackson, the former owner of the bantamweight belt (up to 61,2kg) revealed that he has not yet managed to recover 100% from his shoulder injury and gave details of the difficult process he has been facing.

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“I still can’t lift my arm in the air. I don't even know if my shoulder will ever be the same again. It's f*cked up and depressing. As a competitor, you have to be deceptively optimistic, but that's also what put me in this position. It just got worse and worse with each surgery. I had a huge surgery. I went to the best specialist in the world and it's like he's never seen anything like it. It looked like a bomb went off inside. There's a lot of healing to be done but this is my third surgery since my last fight, and it's not looking good,” lamented TJ.

No UFC 280, the fighter was looking to regain the category belt. After great dominance of aljamain sterling In the first round, TJ revealed to his coaches that his shoulder had slipped out of place. Despite the injury, the athlete returned for the second round, but was unable to deal with the champion's pressure and was defeated via technical knockout.

At 37 years old, the fighter retired with 17 triumphs and five setbacks in his career. With a title won after overcoming Renan Barao In 2014, Dillashaw successfully defended his division throne on two occasions. In the third, the North American was defeated by Dominick Cruz in the judges' decision.