Aljamain Sterling believes TJ Dillashaw is still cheating and using steroids ahead of their UFC 280 title fight.
Dillashaw is the former bantamweight champ and was suspended for two years for EPO use. He then returned against Cory Sandhagen, winning a split decision to get a title shot against Sterling in Abu Dhabi on October 22. Although the former champ has passed several drug tests since then, Sterling doubts Dillashaw is fighting clean.
Aljamain Sterling Goes On The Record Saying TJ Dillashaw is Doping
“When he’s talking about all this stuff, I’m like, dude, you were on the same s*** that [Renan Barao] was on. Whatever it was, even if it wasn’t the same exact thing, you were definitely on something,” Sterling said on The MMA Hour.
“Your teammates outed you years ago. There’s been rumors, even before that press conference happened with him and Cody Garbrandt, there were rumors going on for the longest. But what am I going to do? Sit here and b**** and moan and say, ‘Oh, I hear he’s cheating, let me go snitch on him?’ Your people told on you. If that’s what you need to do to get by and feel better at night, I think there’s some type of issue there and he might be a little bit unconfident in his own skill set, that he feels the need to do something like that in order to get some type of edge.”
“Isn’t it fascinating he got knocked out by Henry Cejudo with a toe? It wasn’t the shin, it wasn’t the foot — it was the toe that knocked him down and wobbled him the way that it did. And he came back and took those monster shots from Cory Sandhagen — hmm, I don’t know, my man, I don’t know.
I know you can make the argument, ‘Oh, he cut too much weight, the brain fluids.’ Miss me with that s***. The guy’s still cheating. He’s still finding ways to cheat. Once a cheater, always a cheater. And it’s just going to be nice to beat a guy like that, get a nice feather in my cap, and to say that I did it the right way, and he’s a p****.”
The goal now for Sterling is to not just beat Dillashaw, but finish him and prove he is the best bantamweight in the world. He also wants to prove using steroids doesn’t make anyone better.