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Sterling defended his bantamweight title with a technical knockout win over Dillashaw in 2022. Sterling recently said that punching Dillashaw was the best moment of his career. While Sterling respects Dillashaw’s skillset, his dislike for the former bantamweight champion stems from his infamous drug testing failures. Sterling notes that Dillashaw’s former teammate turned foe, Cody Garbrandt, had long been accusing him of cheating. While Sterling had his doubts then, he is now free to speak his mind since Dillashaw has been caught cheating.
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‘He’s a Lying Cheat’
“Best moment – probably punching T.J. Dillashaw… I just know he’s a cheat,” Sterling told Home of Fight. “He’s a lying cheat. ‘Oh no, I only got caught that time.’ Yeah, you only got caught that time. Your teammate outed you before you fought him. Don’t get me wrong, I like T.J. in terms of skillset, fun to watch, studied a lot of his games. But I always heard the rumblings that he was cheating, but I couldn’t say anything until he got caught. He got caught, so now I can say everything I want to say.”
Dillashaw’s (17-5) fall from grace was one of the steepest in UFC history. Dillashaw had three bantamweight title defenses across two title reigns before he challenged Henry Cejudo for the flyweight title in 2019. Dillashaw was knocked out in just over half a minute and also failed a pre-fight drug test. Dillashaw was handed a two-year suspension, retroactive to the date of his fight against Cejudo. Dillashaw returned to competition in 2021 and roped in a split decision win against Cory Sandhagen to earn a title shot against Sterling. Dillashaw hung up his gloves following his loss against Sterling. While Dillashaw is still considered to be among the best bantamweights in history, his legacy will forever be marred by the PED use.
Aljamain Sterling says punching TJ Dillashaw was his best moment, calls him a “lying cheat.”😳‼️
“I just know he’s a cheat. He’s a lying cheat. ‘Oh no, I only got caught that time.’ Yeah, you only got caught that time. Your teammate outed you before the fight. I always heard the… pic.twitter.com/MdXlKeN4pO
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) February 10, 2026
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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