Thursday, March 28, 2024

The Red Corner: Dillashaw has long road ahead of him

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UFC fighter T.J. Dillashaw has a long path ahead of him if he wants to regain his bantamweight title.

Dillashaw voluntarily relinquished the UFC bantamweight (135 pounds) championship on March 20 after the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) and U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) informed him about an “adverse analytical finding,” in a drug test he took on Jan. 18. Dillashaw took the drug test one day before his flyweight title fight against champion Henry Cejudo. Dillashaw lost the fight to Cejudo, who finished him in 32 seconds.

The NYSAC suspended him from competition until Jan. 19, 2020. While the term “adverse analytical finding” was used, it is unclear what was found in Dillashaw’s drug test. We don’t know if it was performance enhancing drugs, marijuana or something that masks other substances.

That hasn’t stopped critics and fellow fighters for blasting Dillashaw over his failed drug test. Fighters, who never spoke up before, are coming out of the shadows and claiming he has abused drugs for years.

Despite these claims, this is the first time of confirmation that Dillashaw has failed a drug test in his nine-year MMA career.

Some folks believe his willingness to give up the UFC belt is proof of his guilt.

I really can’t judge Dillashaw at this point because the tests have not revealed what he tested positive for as of press time.

Would I be surprised if his drug test revealed he took PEDs? Not at all because, but I believe that just about every fighter has taken some type of drug at some point in their career.

Before MMA came into mainstream sports, it wasn’t uncommon to hear about fighters taking drugs before a fight.

When you compete in a sport where winning earns you more money, you are going to seek any competitive edge you can.

Sometimes fighters don’t know what they were putting into their bodies. Perhaps Dillashaw didn’t know what vitamins he was taking and it contained a banned substance. Maybe an overzealous trainer gave him a tainted supplement without his knowledge.

I’ve never really had a reason to dislike Dillashaw as a fighter, or as a person. When my friends complain about smaller mixed martial artists not having any knockout power, I direct their attention to Dillashaw, who has eight KO/TKO finishes to his credit. While he has engaged in trash talk with his opponents in the build up to his fights, Dillashaw has always acted as a professional and he can deliver in a big-fight atmosphere.

I would wager that Dillashaw has a good chance to win back the bantamweight title title when the investigation is over and he completes his suspension. By the time that happens, the UFC will have already crowned a new bantamweight champion. If he serves his punishment, Dillashaw might be moved up to a title might upon his return, or at least have a tune-up fight.

There’s no doubt, he will be under a microscope when it comes to future drug tests. The MMA community isn’t to kind to fighters who fail drug tests, even if those athletes never fail another drug test for the remainder of their career.

One example is former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia , who was stripped of his title after failing a post-fight drug test following his successful title defense against Gan McGee in 2003.

After some bumps in the road, Sylvia regained the UFC heavyweight title in 2006 after avenging a loss to Andrei Arlovski. Although Sylvia found redemption in winning the belt a second time, fans will bring up his past mistake more than his accomplishment.

Maybe folks will be kinder to Dillashaw this time around.

The annals of combat sports are filled with redemption stories and Dillashaw’s road to redemption after a failed drug test could be another good comeback story.

t..j. dillashaw, ufc, mixed martial arts, mma

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