TJ Dillashaw is having a hard time processing that his fighting career is over.
Dillashaw announced his retirement from MMA following his UFC 280 TKO loss to Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight title. Early into the fight, Dillashaw dislocated his shoulder, and having to go under the knife again, he knew his career was over.
Yet, Dillashaw took to Instagram to announce the surgery did not work and that he needs to go back under the knife. With that, Dillashaw admits he has had a hard time dealing with his retirement as he feels he is too good to retire at his age.
“This is retirement. But in all honesty I’m pretty pissed that I didn’t get the chance to choose to retire. I feel that I’m to good to hang ‘em up. Haven’t told many people but I have to go under the knife again for surgery because my first surgery didn’t take. Being told that my shoulder will never be good enough to compete again is hard to hear. I have been delaying my surgery trying to find a better solution,” Dillashaw wrote on Instagram.
Although TJ Dillashaw admits he is having a hard time with retirement, he has no plans on returning. As he says, he needs another surgery and will then focus on rehab, but he is disappointed that he feels he was forced to retire, rather than make that decision himself.
Dilladhaw (17-5) ended his career with a loss to Sterling but is the former two-time UFC bantamweight champion. The 37-year-old holds notable wins over Cody Garbrandt, John Lineker, Raphael Assuncao, Cory Sandhagen, and Renan Barao in his career. In the UFC, he went 13-5 with three of the losses coming in title fights.
Do you think we see TJ Dillashaw fight again?
