T.J. Dillashaw says Aljamain Sterling has 'the quit button' in him and he'll push it at UFC 280

T.J. Dillashaw has fought one time in the last 34 months. On Saturday, he'll face Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight title in the co-main event of UFC 280 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. He's around a 9-5 underdog at BetMGM for the event.

Dillashaw may as well walk to the Octagon on Saturday to boxing Hall of Famer Roy Jones' 2006 rap song, "Y'all Must've Forgot." Because after serving a two-year anti-doping suspension, Dillashaw returned and scored a split decision victory over the highly regarded Cory Sandhagen. But he tore his knee up in that fight and needed two separate surgeries to correct his issue.

Being the underdog against Sterling probably isn't a surprise given his activity level, but Dillashaw has a different take.

As Jones rapped in 2006:

Dillashaw can sympathize with Jones. He's won five title fights, won four fights over two men, Renan Barao and Cody Garbrandt, who have held UFC championships during their careers and has been a staple on the pound-for-pound lists for much of his time in the UFC.

But he goes into Saturday's fight as an underdog. It doesn't bother him. He just shrugged it off as just the passage of time.

"People forget, man," Dillashaw said. "People forget when you haven't been competing how dominant you are. So I ought to remind them all. And I actually don't mind being the underdog. Every time I come into a title fight, I've been an underdog. To become a champion, I've been an underdog. I was an underdog against Barao, I was an underdog against 'No Love' Garbrandt, I'm now underdog here. So let's just keep it rolling."

One of the things he has to face going forward in his career is his use of EPO before the loss to Henry Cejudo in 2019. It didn't help much — he was knocked out in 32 seconds in that bid to win the flyweight title, but he paid heavily.

Sterling has trashed him mercilessly and referred to him numerous times as "Pillashaw" during an interview with Yahoo Sports. Fans in most sports haven't been tolerant of star athletes who have used PEDs in their career. Barry Bonds is baseball's all-time home run king and he's not in the Hall of Fame. Mark McGwire is one of that sport's greatest sluggers and he's not, either.

Dillashaw admitted his PED usage, drawing praise this week for his candor from UFC president Dana White during an interview with Robbie Fox. According to the USADA website, Dillashaw has been tested nine times so far in 2022. In 2018, the year before the Cejudo fight, Dillashaw was tested 13 times.

"USADA is probably all over him," White said of Dillashaw. "But I think he made a mistake, and he handled it like a man. I’ll tell you what: We’ve had a lot of guys in the history of this company who have been busted for steroids and handled it the exact opposite way. They handled it not like men. Dillashaw did. He took it on the chin. You’ve got to respect him for that."

That struck Sterling as odd, and he expressed his befuddlement at UFC 280 media day.

"Very strange, man,” Sterling said of White's response. “Dana’s an interesting cat. I like Dana a lot, but some of the things I just have to wonder his reasoning and rationale. Like, you’re praising a guy who got caught and saying he did it the right way and did it like a man. What about that was manly? The guy got caught. He didn’t come clean, Dana. I’m just — I don’t get it. I think it’s a very odd thing to say.”

Dillashaw gets that he's going to take heat for his positive test, and he's accepted that. And he didn't make much of Sterling ripping him for it. It's mind games that fighters routinely play before an important fight, he said.

Dillashaw has always been blunt, but he hasn't been known to talk a lot of trash. He says what he thinks and goes on with his business. He thinks Sterling may have been trying to rattle him.

"He's probably trying to get into my head as well as sell the fight and maybe pump himself up a little bit," Dillashaw said. "I mean, everyone has to fight differently. Maybe he has to have some animosity towards someone to feel like he gets them going best. For me, I'm not really that kind of guy. I fight best— I'll just call it as it is. I'll tell you suck if you suck and I'll tell you I'm better than you. But I ain't going to get in there and do the whole social media thing. I think he tries a little too hard on social media. But I think it's just maybe the way he needs to get ready for a fight."

But Dillashaw did throw in a little shade. Sterling is 21-3 and lost a pair of split decisions and was knocked out with a knee by Marlon Moraes. There is no evidence he's quit, but Dillashaw insisted he's seen indications that Sterling will give up when the going gets rough.

Sterling took the most heat for a win by disqualification over Petr Yan when Yan fouled him with a knee to the head when Sterling was done. But Sterling clearly couldn't continue in that bout, and it would have been unfair to try to make him do so.

Dillashaw said "rules are rules" in referencing Yan's disqualification. But he has seen something in Sterling that has convinced him Sterling will break.

"I think he'll break," Dillashaw said. "I think he's got that weakness in him. He's got that quit button. I've just go to get to it. ... He was going to get finished in that fight. Unfortunately for Yan, he got finished the way he did because Yan was going to beat him and finish him. But the rules are rules. I mean, obviously Sterling should have got the victory because of that. I don't think he should get a belt because of it. And I definitely don't think he should have handled it the way he handled it. Remember, he got the belt and he was disappointed about it at first. And then like an hour later, he's like taking pictures with it and he's the best. So it's more of that than anything."