TJ Dillashaw wishes he would’ve done things differently as a young gun in the UFC.
The retired two-time UFC Champion is considered among the greatest bantamweights of all time with multiple title fight wins over champs Renan Barao and Cody Garbrandt in their primes.
Dillashaw was signed to the UFC in 2011 after coming up short of winning ‘The Ultimate Fighter 14’ against John Dodson. Despite losing his first fight in the Octagon, Dillashaw quickly rose through the ranks of the 135lb division with three-straight finishes and eventually found himself in title contention.
TJ Dillashaw won the world title in an all-time upset against Renan Barao in 2014, a little more than two years removed from his first UFC win.
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TJ Dillashaw regrets not taking more fights in his heyday
From 2011 to his last title fight, a TKO loss to then-champ Aljamain Sterling in 2022, Dillashaw fought in the UFC 18 times before a gnarly shoulder injury forced him to leave the sport for good.
Settled into MMA retirement at 39 years old, Dillashaw opens up on one of his biggest regrets.
“Looking back on it now, I wish I was just taking more fights more often,” Dillashaw said on The Jaxxon Podcast.
“Because I was always in shape and I was always gunning to go.
“But when you are trying to climb the ladder and you’re shooting for the belt, you’re like, you wanna make sure you’re so ready, right?”
TJ Dillashaw gets ‘OCD’ when it comes to fighting
During his UFC tenure, Dillashaw fought three times in 2013, 2014 and 2016.
From 2014 on, Dillashaw consistently fought champions and top-5 contenders. After an active 2016, Dillashaw fought one fight in 2017, 2018, and 2019 and was suspended for two years following a positive drug test for erythropoietin (EPO) from his flyweight debut against Henry Cejudo.
Dillashaw says he probably would’ve had more fights if he wasn’t a perfectionist.
“I kinda get OCD [obsessive-compulsive disorder] about it,” Dillashaw said of taking fights.
“I get OCD about like how ready I’m gonna be.
“I want every T crossed, every I dotted with my training camp, my abilities, my diet, my recovery…
“I was always too much of a perfectionist before every fight to where [I should’ve said] ‘just be in shape and go and take more fights more often.’
“I wish I would have done that,” Dillashaw added.
