Following his TKO loss against Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight championship, Dillashaw has declared his retirement from mixed martial arts. He badly injured his shoulder throughout the battle, and he was scheduled for surgery.
The 36-year-old decided to retire since he would be out for more than a year.
Dillashaw, one of the greatest bantamweights of all time and a two-time champion, had a successful career, but he does have his regrets.
” I mean, that’s the biggest regret I have right now is cutting to 125. Not only just getting in trouble, but just what I did to my body,” Dillashaw said on Food Truck Diaries.
“Everyone seen that I got in trouble and I got suspended. But, dude, the six months after that of me bouncing back from that weight cut just destroyed my metabolism, looked like sh*t, went through surgery. So, like that was hard on me, it was hard on my hormones, it was hard on everything, man.”
The USADA prohibited Dillashaw from competition for using EPO to help him lose weight and destroying his body at the same time. He claims that he would not have been banned if he hadn’t dropped below 125 pounds.
“I wouldn’t have gotten in trouble, none of that sh*t would have happened. So that would have been a big difference as well,” Dillashaw said.
“That is my biggest regret for sure, trying to go down to 125. The same thing as why I feel like I took this fight last time too, is you have this ultimate belief and a goal. When I put a goal in my head I am going to work my ass to get it done. When I said I am going to be a double-champ going to down to ’25, I’m getting it done.”
Dillashaw finished his career with a 17-5 record, including memorable victories against Raphael Assuncao, Cory Sandhagen, Cody Garbrandt and John Lineker.