Aljamain Sterling finding "excuses" for getting knocked out with PED allegations, says T.J. Dillashaw– "It's an easier way to swallow a pill of getting your a** whooped"

Aljamain Sterling and T.J. Dillashaw are set to clash in the co-main event of the absolutely stacked UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi. The fight will take place at the Etihad Arena on Yas Island. This will be Aljamain Sterling's second title defense since winning the bantamweight championship back in March 2021 at UFC 259.

'The Funkmaster' won the fight due to a disqualification from an illegal knee thrown by Petr Yan, the then-defending bantamweight champ. In the rematch at UFC 273, Sterling successfully defended his title against Yan, winning the fight via split decision.

T.J. Dillashaw made his return to the octagon in July 2021 against Cory Sandhagen at UFC Vegas 32. Dillashaw won the fight via split decision, though many argued that Sandhagen could have as easily walked away with the W on the scorecards.

T.J. Dillashaw is a two-time UFC bantamweight champion. He won the title from Renan Barão at UFC 173, and lost it to Dominick Cruz at UFC Fight Night 81 in 2016. He went on to win the title back after defeating Cody Garbrandt at UFC 217 in November next year.

After defending his title in a rematch against Garbrandt, Dillashaw decided to drop down a weight-class to challenge Henry Cejudo for the flyweight title. He lost the fight in the first round via knockout. Shortly thereafter, T.J. Dillashaw relinquished the bantamweight title after testing positive for EPO [a performance-enhancing drug] and received a two-year suspension.

After these details emerged, Dillashaw faced a lot of backlash from fans and the MMA community in general for his PED use. Now, Aljamain Sterling thinks Dillashaw might be cheating again.

Upon being asked what he thought of Sterling's comments about him being "souped up" for the fight, this is what Dillashaw had to say:

"It's just excuses because he knows the guy who's going to be standing across from him is going to knock his a** out. It's an easier way to swallow a pill of getting your a** whooped by supposedly someone that's on some sauce."

Watch TheMacLife's video on T.J. Dillashaw's media scrum:

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UFC 280: Aljamain Sterling vs. T.J. Dillashaw: Fighter Picks

The UFC 280 co-main event is drawing almost as much intrigue as the main event. The clash of styles between Aljamain Sterling and T.J. Dillashaw looks enthralling on paper.

Sterling has a grappling-heavy style and managed to outgrapple, to varying degrees, both Corey Sandhagen and Petr Yan when he fought them. Dillashaw has crisp striking, speed and great head movement, owing to the patented Bang Muay Thai style taught to him by his head coach Duane Ludwig.

Corey Sandhagen, the No. 4-ranked bantamweight contender, has Aljamain Sterling winning that fight. Here's what he had to say:

"What Aljamain does, he does [well] - like best in the world at doing it; which is getting his hands on you, taking your back and, you know, winning that way. And I think that in order to not have that be the case you have to have a lot of stopping power. And I just don't think that T.J. has that kind of stopping power in his punches and his attacks in order to stop Aljamain from running over there, grabbing him and taking his back."

No. 11-ranked bantamweight Sean O'Malley has Dillashaw winning that fight, although he added that Sterling can't be counted out.

Former featherweight and current bantamweight Cub Swanson didn't pick a clear winner. He stated that although you can't count Sterling out, he doesn't see many people beating Dillashaw either.

Here is MMA Crazy's video on fighter picks for Sterling vs. Dillashaw: