"He's got to make some sort of excuse for why I'm winning" - T.J. Dillashaw addresses Aljamain Sterling's "bulls**t" accusations of him still using banned substances
T.J. Dillashaw recently responded to Aljamain Sterling's claims of him using PEDs.
Dillashaw tested positive for recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) prior to his title fight against then-flyweight champion Henry Cejudo in 2019. EPO is a performance-enhancing substance that allows an athlete to train or perform more efficiently by enhancing the production of red blood cells.
Following a positive test, the US Anti-Doping Agency barred 'Lieutenant Dan' from competing in MMA for two years.
Before their upcoming fight at UFC 280, champion Aljamain Sterling took a jibe at his opponent, referring to the aforementioned incident. 'Funk Master', during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour, claimed that Dillashaw was still using illegal drugs, terming him a "cheater".
However, the former two-time Bantamweight champion claimed that Sterling's comments were clearly intended to be "some sort of excuse" for 'Lieutenant Dan's recent victories.
During a recent interview with MMA Junkie's Mike Bohn, Dillashaw had this to say:
"He's got to say something to downplay how good I am right? That I'm, going whip his a** here, coming up soon in 10 weeks. He's got to make some sort of excuses for why I'm winning or who I am and why I am um... it don't bother me. It's just a bunch of bullsh*t excuses to when I beat his a**."
Check out T.J. Dillashaw's full interview with MMA Junkie below:
T.J. Dillashaw and Aljamain Sterling are all set to face-off against each other in the co-main event of UFC 280 on October 22 with Sterling's bantamweight belt on the line.
With both fighters engaging in serious trash talks with each other, it will be interesting to see who is able to live up to their words and get their hand raised in the octagon.
T.J. Dillashaw believes his past accomplishments shouldn't be discredited
Dillashaw was considered to be one of the greatest bantamweights of the promotion until he received a two-year suspension for the use of banned substances.
Although the fighter has openly stated his intentions behind using such substances, he has faced a lot of criticism for the blatant use of banned substances. Furthermore, many fans have also discredited Dillashaw's victories prior to his failed drug test.
Appearing in a recent interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, 'Lieutenant Dan' had this to say regarding the incident:
"Everytime they would come to my house and drug test me, there's an A and a B sample. You always got to give two so they can keep it on file and they can retest it if they want to. When I failed that drug test, they want to know if any of my accolades or anything else I did in the past was ever tied to that so they went back and retested all of my tests all the way back to 2016. Not only did I get tested once, they retested everything from 2016 up and obviously nothing came up."
Check out T.J. Dillashaw's appearance on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani below: