"Praying this is the last one" - Former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw shows off "gnarly" scars after yet another shoulder surgery
Former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw has been plagued by injuries for a while. Since blowing out his shoulder in his title fight against Aljamain Sterling back in October 2022, he hasn't competed in professional mixed martial arts.
Apart from injuries, the former champion has also suffered a number of upsets outside the cage. He was previously suspended after he tested positive for banned substances.
These issues prevented TJ Dillashaw from competing, and the shoulder injury appeared to be the straw that broke the camel's back. Following his injury in his fight against Sterling at UFC 280, Dillashaw retired from professional MMA.
Judging by his social media, it appears that the injury continued to bother him, at least until now. Recently, Dillashaw took to Instagram to reveal that he has had surgery on his shoulder. In a video, he showed of a "gnarly" scar that was the remnant of the process.
In the caption, he wrote:
"1 week post op, feeling pretty good considering everything that was done. Battle scars are gnarly. @davinci_medical’s #superhumanprotocol to help speed up recovery. I’ll post my other recovery tools in my stories. Leaving no stone unturned! Praying this is the last one, feeling pretty good about it."
Check out TJ Dillashaw's post here:
What does TJ Dillashaw's MMA record look like?
At one point in his career, TJ Dillashaw was in the conversation for being the best to ever do it at 135 pounds. He boasts a professional MMA record of 18-5 and holds wins over some of the biggest names in the sport, with multiple wins against world champions on his record.
Arguably his greatest rivalry was with former Team Alpha Male teammate Cody 'No Love' Garbrandt. The two faced each other two times, and the narrative heading into the first bout was that Garbrandt was fighting for his gym and team, as Dillashaw had left them along with coach Duane Ludwig to train in Colorado instead.
Dillashaw ended up knocking Garbrandt out twice, and in their first fight captured the 135-pound strap that 'No Love' held at the time. He also holds two wins over the legendary Renan Barao and has even beaten contenders from the current generation, such as Cory Sandhagen.
Unfortunately for Dillashaw, his bid at two-champ status failed, as he was knocked out by Henry Cejudo when he dropped down to 125 pounds to vie for the flyweight strap.