TJ Dillashaw would have done things a little differently when he was in his prime.
The retired dual UFC champion is considered one of the largest Bantamweight hunters of all time, where they were then of the then champion Renan Barao and Cody Garbrandt twice as good as upcoming title challenge Cory Sandhagen.
Of course Dillashaw's career is not absent from controversy, because the former champion tested positive for the forbidden substance Erytropoietin (EPO) in his fatal attempt to become a two -division champion in flight weight against Henry Cejudo.
This is more than probably his biggest regret, Dillashaw admits that he should have looked the other way and instead had to go after another belt.
Photo by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
TJ Dillashaw says he could have fought against his prime against Conor McGregor
In 2015, Dillashaw was the UFC Bantamweight champion of the world after defending his title in a rematch against Barao.
In the same year, Dillashaw appeared in season 22 of 'The Ultimate Fighter' Reality -TVShow, where Conor McGregor and Urijah Faber were against coaches.
McGregor and Faber's 'Team Alpha Male' could not get along, with McGregor Dillashaw called a 'snake in the grass' for training with coach Duane Ludwig about his old team at Team Alpha Male. This led to an argument in which Garbrandt McGregor encouraged to defend the honor of his team.
Dillashaw thinks 10 years later and wishes that he had noticed for himself against McGregor-a potentially superfight on featherweight.
“He is a great hunter,” Dillashaw said about UFC -Superster McGregor.
“He is big, but I feel that my skills could have been great, especially when he fought against 145 and he was not as big as he is now. It would have been a perfect timing,” Dillashaw continued.
“I look back on certain things in my career, and that is one of them where I, when I walked away, just defended my belt against Barao, and I walked away knowing, Urijah coached against McGregor …
“He called me out, called me a snake in the grass, and I was completely male from the night before. He called me a snake in the grass because I was training with Duane instead of Alpha -Man. We went our A – the night before, and I am trying to feel better for the show.
“He calls me out, and I just went a bit with it and didn't come up for myself at all,” Dillashaw added.
“Garbrandt stood up for me and pushed him and S -. I wish I would have left f – much more because that could have been a fight that I could have gotten possible.
“If I had created more drama,” Dillashaw said about how he could fight McGregor.
“I have always been one of these guys who didn't like drama. It's still not my style. I don't like it …”
McGregor continued later that year with the interim and undisputed featherweight titles with TKOs about Chad Mendes and Jose Aldo. Dillashaw lost the Bantamweight belt to Dominick Cruz in January 2016.
TJ Dillashaw is a top 5 bantam weight of all time
While the end of his career was steeped in controversy for testing positive in 2019, Dillashaw still has one of the best CVs in the history of the Bantam weight division.
Dillashaw had two title government and three successful title defenses, which is more than the current champion Merab Dvalishvili from this letter.
Dillashaw declared herself the best Bantamweight of all time after his 12th UFC victory in Cody Garbrandt in 2017. But the former champion has some competition with Dvalishvili, Aljamain Sterling and Dominick Cruz, with Sterling and Cruz both Dillashaw losing losses.
Bloody Elbow has arranged Dillashaw as the fourth on big best Bantamweight of all time.