In a shocking turn of events, TJ Dillashaw announced his retirement from mixed martial arts earlier this week. Dana White has now given his opinion on the former bantamweight champion, labeling him a future Hall-of-Famer.
‘Killashaw’ is regarded by most to be in the conversation for the greatest 135er in the history of the sport, alongside long-term rival Dominick Cruz. The 36-year-old has been at the top of the game for almost a decade, fighting the very best the division has had to offer throughout the years.
While discussing TJ Dillashaw’s retirement, Dana White was nothing but complimentary of the bantamweight star. He confirmed that he will be inducted into the UFC Hall-of-Fame sometime in the future:
“I agree [I don’t know if we’ve ever seen a more talented bantamweight than Dillashaw]. You had all these guys talking about him, coming after him, and he would always win those fights that you didn’t think he was gonna win. There’s no denying that he’s one of the best… People don’t look at him the way they should, but the guy’s one of the best ever… Yeah, for sure [Dillashaw is a future Hall-of-Famer].”
Despite his talent, Dillashaw bowed out of the sport in a less-than-ideal manner after coming up short in his push to recapture the 135lb title at UFC 280. The star suffered a recurring dislocated shoulder injury throughout camp which played a huge fight in how the fight against Aljamain Sterling played out on October 22nd.
The TUF 14 runner-up is a two-time UFC bantamweight champion, making three successful title defenses combined over the title reigns. Alongside ‘Funk Master’, he holds the record for most wins in the history of the division at 13.
Check out what Dana White had to say about TJ Dillashaw’s retirement in the video below.
A history of huge UFC wins for TJ Dillashaw
The first big win and arguably the most notable of TJ Dillashaw’s MMA career came when he dismantled a man many believed to be one of the greatest fighters in the world. That man was Renan Barao, in Dillashaw’s his first main event appearance back in 2014.
In 2017, the veteran scored back-to-back wins over his former teammate-turned-rival Cody Garbrandt. Both were by way of knockout prior to losing in his flyweight debut to Henry Cejudo.
After serving his USADA suspension, Dillashaw returned to action to score a razor-thin decision victory against Cory Sandhagen, which was arguably one of the better fights of 2021.
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