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In T.J. Dillashaw’s mind, Dominick Cruz is being "salty" about the possibility of him getting a crack at the UFC bantamweight gold despite only fighting once since his comeback.
During a recent interview with Submission Radio, the former bantamweight champion was asked how he felt about Cruz’s comments. 'The Dominator' said some choice words about Dillashaw, with the main point being that he wasn’t worthy of a title opportunity after competing just once since returning from a two-year suspension.
T.J. Dillashaw responded:
"Sounds like a salty c**nt, to be honest. I just think he’s obviously jealous of me being able to stay at the top with, you know, my layoff and how long I have been in the sport. And me still be able to come back and prove that I’m still the best."
Watch T.J Dillashaw talk about Dominick Cruz’s comments in the video below:
T.J. Dillashaw is a former bantamweight champion whose first title reign was ended by Dominick Cruz at UFC Fight Night 81 back in 2016. He regained the title the following year by defeating Cody Garbrandt. His only defense came in a rematch against Garbrandt.
He was stripped of the title due to a failed drug test, which led to a two-year suspension from USADA. Dillashaw made his return last July, defeating Cory Sandhagen in the UFC Vegas 32 main event.
The former titleholder now potentially finds himself in the title picture as it is rumored that he could be next to challenge Aljamain Sterling for the belt.
Why does Aljamain Sterling prefer T.J. Dillashaw as his next challenger?
The reigning bantamweight champion can choose his next challenger from a few candidates, but he seemingly would prefer to fight T.J. Dillashaw because he's the "easiest" of the bunch.
At UFC 273, Sterling defeated Petr Yan via split decision. The Russian has campaigned for an immediate rematch, but it looks like the promotion wants to move forward with someone new to challenge for the title. In Sterling's mind, that leaves two potential contenders: Dillashaw or Jose Aldo.
In a video uploaded by Aljamain Sterling on Instagram, he said that Dillashaw would be his easiest option:
"I feel like the easiest of all three is T.J. Dillashaw, if I'm being one hundred percent honest. And I don't want to say easy like disrespectfully. Like easy like in terms of my style versus his... They said I did nothing with my takedowns? This guy did absolutely zero with those takedowns. He got knocked out by Henry Cejudo then got suspended."
