Jimmie Rivera is making some bold claims in regards to his sparring session with T.J. Dillashaw.
“El Terror” is the third ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bantamweight. He hasn’t suffered a loss since Nov. 2008. With his decision win over Thomas Almeida, Rivera is due for a big match-up.
Could Dillashaw be next?
There would be some history there as “El Terror” told MMAFighting.com that he actually sparred with the former bantamweight champion:
“At the time, he wasn’t in the UFC yet, he just finished with The Ultimate Fighter or was about to fight in the Finale, one of the two. And I went out to Milwaukee to Pettis’ gym, to Roufusport … Faber and Dillashaw and them walk in, and I’m like ‘this is cool, am I going to get to train with them?’ This is when I was like a little kid. So I got to train with them and ‘wow, I thought they were going to be a lot better.’ I put them on this pedestal, but they’re not. I’m on the same level as them.’”
If “El Terror” is to be believed, things didn’t go well for Dillashaw.
“And then I got to spar TJ and I was like, wow, this guy is one of the top, up-there 135s,” Rivera continued. “And I’m sparring him, and I’m piecing him up and having fun with it, I’m like, this is just fun. I wasn’t even in shape, I just went in there and had some fun.”
