T.J. Dillashaw gives "depressing" update on massive shoulder injury, says he feels forced out of MMA
T.J. Dillashaw recently opened up about a potential return to combat sports and shared a distressing update on his shoulder injury. The former two-time UFC bantamweight champion also stated that he felt "forced out" of MMA and felt he could have given much more to the sport if his injuries hadn't hindered him.
Dillashaw last stepped into the octagon in a title fight against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 280 in October 2022. Dillashaw seemingly went into the bout injured, which led to him dislocating his shoulder during the fight. He ultimately lost via second-round TKO and underwent multiple surgeries to fix his shoulder.
During a recent appearence on the JAXXON Podcast, Dillashaw discussed a potential comeback and outlined the extent of his injuries. Revealing that he's far from making a full recovery, the former UFC champion said:
"I can’t even raise my arm up in the air yet. I don’t even know if my shoulder is ever going to be the same again. It’s f**king depressing. As a competitor, you have to be delusionally optimistic, but that’s also what got me in this position, too. It’s just gotten worse and worse from each surgery."
Dillashaw continued:
"I went to the world’s best specialist, and it’s like he’s never seen anything like it. It looked like a bomb went off in there. … There is a lot of healing to be done, and I’m hoping that maybe it’s just like me staying after my PTs is going to make it better and better and better, but this is my third surgery since my last fight, and it’s not looking good." [H/T MMAJunkie.usatoday.com]
Watch T.J. Dillashaw's full interview below:
When T.J. Dillashaw showed off post-surgery scars on injured shoulder
Earlier this year, T.J. Dillashaw took to social media to show off some post-surgery shoulder scars. As mentioned above, Dillashaw suffered a nasty shoulder dislocation during his title fight against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 280 in October 2002.
In April, Dillashaw took to Instagram and shared some snaps of his "battle scars" after surgery. Hoping that it would be his last visit to the surgical theatre, the former two-time UFC bantamweight champion wrote:
"1-week post-op, feeling pretty good considering everything that was done. Battle scars are gnarly. @davinci_medical’s #superhuman protocol 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."