BROOKLYN, N.Y. – T.J. Dillashaw wants a UFC flyweight championship rematch with Henry Cejudo after what he believes was an unfair stoppage in the UFC on ESPN+ 1 headliner.
Dillashaw (16-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) was extremely upset about referee Kevin MacDonald’s decision to award Cejudo (14-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) a TKO victory just 32 seconds into their champion-vs.-champion fight at Barclays Center. The bantamweight champion got clipped with a big shot from Cejudo in the opening seconds of the match and was on shaky legs. He tried to gather himself while Cejudo pressed with follow-up attacks that caused MacDonald to wave off the action. Dillashaw insists it was a bad call.
“Sucks to have it stolen from you,” Dillashaw, responding to MMAjunkie, told reporters at the post-fight news conference. “I worked my butt off. It would be nice to actually get the chance to show it. It’s a title fight. It’s a champ-vs.-champ fight, and you’re going to stop the fight like that? I’m in on a single leg. (The referee) said, ‘Hey, show me something.’ I said, ‘OK.’ I’m on a single leg in a scramble, (Cejudo) stops punching, he’s defending a single leg, and (the referee’s) going to stop the fight? It’s just ridiculous. It’s pretty pathetic that I have better knowledge (than the referee).”
Dillashaw vs. Cejudo marked the fifth time two existing titleholders have faced off in the octagon. Every fight has ended in a stoppage, with Cejudo’s win being the quickest.
According to Dillashaw, he’s able to accept defeat if it’s legitimate. His two previous UFC losses came by way of split decision, and he wasn’t happy about those, either. But he said the nature of the loss to Cejudo takes the cake in terms of disappointment.
“If I’m going to lose, I want to lose,” Dillashaw said. “I want to lose if I’m going to lose. Look, congratulations, Henry Cejudo. Awesome. Great job, man. But you did not win. You did not win this fight. I am happy to accept defeat, but I did not lose. I was more rocked in the first Cody (Garbrandt) fight than that fight. I got clipped, hardly clipped behind the ear, and a grown man is going to be shoving you. Of course you’re going to be in a scramble. A grown-ass man is on top of me. …
“As you can tell, I’m a little frustrated. This (expletive) needs to happen again, at flyweight. This is bullshit. I worked my ass off 12 weeks to get here. To have it stolen from me in 30 seconds. You guys can see the fire. I’ll (expletive) fight tomorrow.”
Dillashaw’s hope will be to get an immediate rematch with Cejudo, ideally at 125 pounds. UFC President Dana White said he’s unsure what the next move is, but Dillashaw believes the organization needs to run it back to he can have the chance to either win or lose in a manner that’s not controversial.
“I don’t know (what happens next),” Dillashaw said. “I’m pretty effing bitter right now. I’m pretty pissed off. I worked my ass off. I’m about to (expletive) cry. I put in a lot of work.”
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