TJ Dillashaw has opened up on a potential future meeting with fellow UFC veteran and former featherweight champion, José Aldo.
As a result of never losing his belt, TJ Dillashaw is widely considered to be the rightful #1 contender to the bantamweight crown, but both injury and an upcoming title fight between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan stand in his way.
Following UFC Vegas 32, TJ Dillashaw received a lot of plaudits for his razor-thin decision victory over a tough Cory Sandhagen, but the Treigning Lab representative was subject to a handful of callouts, with one seemingly catching his attention.
During a recent interview with Submission Radio, TJ Dillashaw shared his thoughts on the constant mentioning of his name from fighters inside the bantamweight division.
“I’ve actually been called out by I think every fighter in the, for sure, top 5 if not top 10 after I won the fight. And before I came back and fought Sandhagen, I swear every fighter called me out.” Dillashaw said. “I mean, I’m the true champion of the division. You’re gonna try to build your name off me thinking I’ve been out for two years, that I’m coming off all this drama that I’m not gonna be the same fighter, and Sandhagen made that mistake as well. And now, he’s having to go further back to get to a title.”
However, out of the bunch of possible fights waiting for him, Dillashaw singled out one callout that he would like to engage—but not before winning his belt back.
“Yeah, I liked the callout. I would like to fight José Aldo. He’s a legend of our sport, and we can do it after I get my belt back.”
When questioned whether Aldo would in fact be his first title defense if he is to reclaim gold, Dillashaw expressed his interest in the idea.
“Shoot, man, the division’s so stacked. It depends, man. I mean, you got Rob Font that’s making a name for himself, you got Aldo…I mean, one of those two guys definitely seem like (are) up for the challenge. But Yan did just beat Aldo, right? So I don’t know. I mean, just Aldo’s name alone makes it interesting, right? I would love that fight.
So yeah, maybe it is gonna be my first fight as champ because José Aldo is a legend in the sport…the guy’s been on top of the world for a long time, so it’d be a dope fight.”
Slated for a return likely in the first quarter of next year, TJ Dillashaw will be eyeing the winner of Sterling and Yan and hopes to have a lengthy reign as champion in an incredibly stacked bantamweight division.
Will we see TJ Dillashaw face Jose Aldo before one of the two hangs up their gloves?
