'Big' John McCarthy discusses how one weight cut changed TJ Dillashaw's metabolism and career path
John McCarthy has weighed in on TJ Dillashaw’s recent comments about the biggest regret of his career.
Dillashaw has been reflecting on his career since recently retiring at 36 years old. The former UFC champion revealed that his biggest regret was moving down to 125-pounds to fight Henry Cejudo. The California native lost to Cejudo in the first round and was later busted for performance-enhancing drugs.
During an episode of Weighing In, John McCarthy had this to say about Dillashaw’s decision to move down to flyweight:
“When TJ was making that choice, I said, 'Man, it’s just too far to go down. You’re losing too much. Your chin will end up being less because you’re gonna be super dehydrated, you know, trying to make that weight. And then you’re gonna put the weight back on, but it’s not enough because the cells change, and you don’t wanna do that.' And that’s exactly what occurred. It occurred in multi-stage for TJ in this. That weight cut changed his metabolism. It changed who he was as a fighter…”
After losing to Cejudo, Dillashaw served a two-year USADA suspension. He returned in 2021 and secured a split-decision win against Cory Sandhagen.
In October, the former UFC champion fought Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight title. He entered the fight with a severe shoulder injury and lost in the second round, which led to his retirement.
Aljamain Sterling TKOs TJ Dillashaw!
Dillashaw's tough, battling through the dislocated shoulder as long as he did. https://t.co/rbxiFZRPed
Watch John McCarthy discuss TJ Dillashaw's recent comments below:
John McCarthy understands TJ Dillashaw’s regret but doesn’t believe it’s an excuse for his "other decisions"
Before moving down to flyweight, TJ Dillashaw was on top of the world with two consecutive wins against Cody Garbrandt.
Assumptions could be made that Dillashaw was never the same after drastically cutting down to 125 pounds. During the same episode of Weighing In, John McCarthy had this to say:
“I think he’s trying to say that, 'Look, I ended up doing things I shouldn’t have done based upon the way I was feeling.' Ok, I can understand if you say it’s a regret. It’s a regret, and it led to other thought processes and decisions that you now regret based upon that one. He’s being honest. It doesn’t make an excuse. But it’s understandable that’s a big regret.”
There is a stereotype of MMA fighters retiring before eventually making a return. Although Dillashaw seems committed to stepping away from fighting, it’ll be intriguing to see his thought process once he fully recovers from his shoulder surgery.