TJ Dillashaw went through a lot to earn his moment.
Dillashaw enjoyed a triumphant return to the Octagon following a split decision victory over Cory Sandhagen in their UFC Vegas 32 war on Saturday night.
It was made all the more impressive given that he had to deal with a seemingly buckled knee as well as a cut right near his eye with the leaking blood affecting his vision.
Regardless, he was still able to earn the victory and is now set to challenge for the bantamweight title that he never officially lost inside the Octagon.
Dillashaw Injured The Entire Camp
The adversity was already present for Dillashaw well before the fight.
Speaking at the post-fight press conference, the former 135-pound champion revealed that he was never fully healthy leading up to the fight.
“I’ve been injured the whole camp,” Dillashaw said (via ESPN MMA). “I didn’t get to spar at all for this camp. Tore my MCL in my right knee, I had a pinched nerve in my left foot, hurt my left shoulder, so there was no sparring this camp… I couldn’t stay healthy, couldn’t spar.
“Coming into this thing injured, two days before the fight I was limping around. I had to work out with shoes on.”
TJ Dillashaw detailed injuries he says he suffered during training camp for #UFCVegas32 pic.twitter.com/steI15eNtn
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 25, 2021
If there’s one thing to learn from all this, it’s that revealing your pre-fight injuries only works when you still manage to win the fight.
