T.J. Dillashaw, former UFC lightweight champion, shared his opinion on the organization's middleweight prospect Hamzat Chimaev.
"Chimaev, by all accounts, is very strong. I don't think he's being over-praised - he's earned all his hype. Really, I wish he would fight more often. He has a lot of fans. I'd watch a Hamzat fight against Bo Nickal. Nickal is good because he's been fighting for a long time and is used to using his skills over and over again. Misses a transfer to the ground - immediately goes for another attempt. He exhausts even other good wrestlers. Nickal can get caught, someone can knock him out. But that goes for any fighter in general," Dillashaw said.
Former UFC lightweight champion T.J. Dillashaw shared his thoughts on Arman Tsarukyan's performance in his bout with Charles Oliveira.
On April 13 at UFC 300 in Las Vegas, USA, the Armenian defeated the Brazilian by split decision on judges' scorecards and moved up to No. 1 in the promotion's lightweight division rankings.
"I don't think Tsarukyan can sweep the lightweight division. He's strong, but he's not dominant. Oliveira almost beat him with a takedown. Another second and Arman would have given up. Look at the choke attempt from Charles, that was a very tight clinch there. Tsarukyan's shorts came off, that's what saved him. Everyone saw his bare ass, but his shorts came down and saved him. Tsarukian was still pushing Charles' legs, that helped too. If Charles had kept his feet level with Arman's ribs, the fight would have been over. Charles was very close to stoppage," MMA Mania quoted Dillashaw as saying.
T.J. Dillashaw, former UFC flyweight champion, spoke on the recent career setbacks of his former rival Cody Karbrandt.
"I had a feeling that Cody was going to win the fight against Figueredo. But I had hope for this one. I was actually rooting for him in this fight despite everything that happened between us. Cody, in my opinion, has lost his confidence. When a fighter loses it, your skills diminish. If you don't believe in yourself when you start fighting, you won't be able to do what you're fully capable of doing. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a chin anymore. People know it can be broken. Cody was knocked out by me and after me a few more times. Fans started criticizing him for being overly aggressive and now they want to hate him for being too accurate in his style and defense," Yahoo Sports quoted Dillashaw as saying.
Former UFC champion T.J. Dillashaw would like to see the organization's reigning bantamweight champion Alex Pereira fight Tom Aspinall, the interim heavyweight champion.
"He won the middleweight belt insanely fast, just skyrocketed to the top. Then Alex became a champion in two weight classes. Now he has only strengthened his position. I really hope he's allowed to fight at heavyweight. I want him to fight Tom Aspinall. But it's worth saying this - you've seen he's not very good in the parterre. Alex is a champion, but he has a few style gaps that make up for his kickboxing skills. How quickly he's mastered MMA is incredible, but he has weaknesses..." - Middle Easy portal quotes Dillashaw as saying.
Former UFC lightweight champion T.J. Dillashaw expressed confidence that featherweight division titleholder Alex Pereira doesn't stand a chance in a potential fight with heavyweight division leader Jon Jones.
"We've seen that Pereira is not very good in the parterre. He's a champion, although he's flawed. However, he's such a good kickboxer. The way he has mastered MMA so quickly is incredible, but there are holes in his game for sure. He's obviously the best kickboxer we've had in the UFC. His wrestling and grappling need improvement.
We saw a fight where he was moved and he had no idea how to get back to his feet. He's probably working on that. He has an amazing jiu-jitsu fighter in Teixeira on his team, so I'm sure he's developing. A potential fight between Pereira and Jones? Jon would outpoint him. Easy," Dillashaw is quoted by Middle Easy.
Recall that last weekend at UFC 300 in Las Vegas, USA, Pereira made the first defense of the belt at 93 kg, knocking out Jamal Hill in the opening round.