Aljamain Sterling praises T.J. Dillashaw for fighting through pain and sheer adversity during their UFC 280 showdown: "Hats off to TJ to take that kind of punishment in those positions"

Aljamain Sterling has praised T.J. Dillashaw for the heart he should during their UFC 280 bantamweight title fight.

Sterling was able to defend his title for the second time when he defeated Dillashaw in the pay-per-view's co-main event. 'Funk Master' secured the victory via a second-round TKO after unloading devastating ground-and-pound strikes on 'Killashaw' after taking him down.

Dillashaw dislocated his shoulder defending one of the first takedowns of the fight and was essentially fighting with one arm throughout the rest of the contest. The pain was visible as the challenger grimaced through wrestling scrambles with 'Funk Master'.

Going into the fight, there was plenty of bad blood between the two bantamweights, as they traded jabs online and during press conferences. However, it seems that Dillashaw won the respect of Sterling after showing incredible grit and toughness in the fight.

'Funk Master' reflected on the bout on Twitter and stated the following:

"Hats off to TJ to take that kind of punishment in those positions. Man’s a warrior and a stud. I would never deny that. True competitor that will fight til the very end. A wrestlers mentality."

See the tweet below:

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Aljamain Sterling responds to Henry Cejudo callout following victory over T.J. Dillashaw

Aljamain Sterling was able to retain his bantamweight title at UFC 280 after defeating T.J. Dillashaw via a second-round TKO.

Following his dominant performance, 'Funk Master' was called out by Henry Cejudo. 'The Messenger' is a former UFC bantamweight champion himself and has consistently threatened to make a comeback following his 2020 retirement.

Cejudo released a video on Twitter calling Aljamain Sterling out and mentioned that when he faced Dillashaw in 2019, he needed less than a minute to finish the Californian:

"Congratulations Alja-sh*tstain, you get to keep beating my leftovers. Congratulations. I took that dude [Dillashaw] out in 32 seconds. Anyhow, my puppy is right here, let's not forget that all you guys are babysitting my belt. All you sorry a** 135 pounders, there's one king."

Watch the video below:

Aljamain Sterling was made aware of Cejudo's callout during the champion's post-fight press conference, and he responded with this:

"Cejudo won the belt against [Marlon] Moraes, it was vacant. After that he fought Dominick Cruz, who was sitting on a couch and took it on short notice because it was an opportunity of a lifetime. If we're being honest here, we are not the same. I fought guys with full training camps, I fought guys with wins and credentialed abilities."

Watch the video below: