TJ Dillashaw was confronted with an elite opposition during his career, but one of them stands out.
Over the years, the UFC has been home to a number of incredible Bantamweight -hunters and although he certainly had a number of setbacks, Dillashaw is one of them.
Dillashaw shot up for the first time with his upset victory over Renan Barao to deduct the dominant champion from UFC 173 into a historic matchup.
After he forced ten times in the Octagon after winning the belt, he clashed with his greatest rival, Cody Garbrandt, and the man who consider many of all time, Dominick Cruz.
However, these remarkable hunters are not those who, according to the 39-year-old, was his most difficult.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
TJ Dillashaw mentions Cory Sandhagen as his heaviest opponent after a split decision on his UFC referee
TJ Dillashaw has fought an impressive list of former opponents to have fought legends of the sport such as Renan Barao, Dominick Cruz and Henry Cejudo.
The double UFC Bantamweight Champion recently revealed his surprising answer during a performance on the overogs podcast when he was asked about the apparently upcoming title fight between Merab Dvalishvili and Cory Sandhagen.
“I would love it if Sandhagen could get it done. That guy is a ninja. His striking is insane. I have now trained with him since 2015 when I moved to Colorado before anyone knew who he was.”
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC
Dillashaw thought about his early impressions of training next to Sandhagen, because he was seriously impressed by his skill level for a hunter who was so young in their career.
“I started training with him at team height and I thought,” Man, who is the F – is this cat? He is good. ” He is something like: “Oh, he is a man who has a few amateur fights,” and I thought, “what?!
The former training partners went opposite each other in July 2021, where Dillashaw conquered a serious adversity to win a narrow split decision about his return to action after two and a half years removed.
“I fought him, it was my most difficult fight so far. The man is great. I would like to see that he would win because he is a great person. His skills are insane, I think he would be a great champion.”
TJ Dillashaw does not think that Cory Sandhagen will beat Merab Dvalishvili
Despite the singing of Cory Sandhagen's praise, TJ Dillashaw also thinks very high on Merab Dvalishvili.
'The Sandman' has been considered one of the best Bantam weights in the world for some time, but stopping the incredible profit of 'The Machine' is a huge task.
During the performance of the podcast, Dillashaw said that although he would like Sandhagen to first be champion when the matchup eventually happens, he supports the champion to come to the top because of the style collision.
“Unfortunately, I think Merab has the exact skills that his Kryptonite are at only his pace and his struggles. Not even like his deception Jiu-Jitsu. It is more only the f— Tempo of struggling. Like, that is sucking, it is tiring.”