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Tyler Jeffrey Dillashaw (born February 7, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He is signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and is the former two-time UFC Bantamweight Champion. As of September 20, 2021, he is #2 in the UFC bantamweight rankings.
Dillashaw competed on the 2011 Ultimate Fighter season. In 2014, he won the UFC Bantamweight Championship by dethroning Renan Barão, who was on a 32-fight win streak. Dillashaw lost the title to Dominick Cruz by split decision in 2016 before regaining it against Cody Garbrandt in 2017. He was later stripped of the belt in 2019 after testing positive for a banned substance, erythropoietin, in the drug tests for his UFC Flyweight Championship bout against Henry Cejudo. He received a two-year suspension and made his comeback in 2021.
Early life
Dillashaw was born in Sonora, California, to Hal and Janice Dillashaw. He grew up in Angels Camp, California.
Wrestling
High school
While wrestling for Coach Jan Schulz at Bret Harte High School, Dillashaw was a four-time sectional qualifier and two-time California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) state qualifier. As a junior, Dillashaw placed fifth at the CIF state championships and ended the season with a record of 45–7. He placed second at the CIF State championships as a senior to cap off a 52–6 record and finished with an overall record of 170–33.
Collegiate
With a successful high school career, Dillashaw received a full-ride scholarship to wrestle for Cal State Fullerton Titans. In the 2005–06 season, Dillashaw's freshman year, he posted a 14–16 record including a 10–8 mark in dual matches. He went 3–4 in Pac-10 dual meets. Dillashaw traveled to Ukraine in the summer of 2006 to work on his wrestling skills. Dillashaw's sophomore season was a more successful one having an overall record of 17–14 with an 11–4 mark in duals, including 5–3 in the Pac-10. In April 2007, he placed sixth in the University Greco Wrestling Championships in Akron, Ohio, at 132.25 pounds.
Mixed martial arts career
After graduating from Cal State Fullerton, Dillashaw contemplated turning to MMA. Mark Muñoz coached at Cal St. Fullerton for 3 years, while competing in the UFC middleweight division and invited Dillashaw to join the Reign Training Center fighter class at the conclusion of his senior year. After training with Team Reign for a year and a half, Munoz encouraged Dillashaw to move up north closer to his hometown of Angels Camp, CA to Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, CA. Dillashaw began training with Team Alpha Male and collected a 2–0 amateur record before turning pro.
On March 26, 2010, Dillashaw made his professional debut against fellow pro debutant, Czar Sklavos. Dillashaw used his superior wrestling to earn a dominant unanimous decision win. Two months later, Dillashaw returned to fight Brandon Drucker, winning the fight via first-round submission. The fight took place at Fight For Wrestling, an MMA event located in California attempting to raise money to fund the Cal Poly, wrestling team.
The Ultimate Fighter
In 2011, Dillashaw signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship to compete on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller. In the first episode, he fought Matt Jaggers to gain entry into the Ultimate Fighter house. Dillashaw defeated Jaggers in the first round via TKO.
Dillashaw was selected as a part of Team Bisping, he was the second bantamweight chosen for the team (seventh overall). Dillashaw defeated Roland Delorme via rear-naked choke submission in the preliminary round and moved onto the semi-finals. It was there he fought Dustin Pague for the first spot in the bantamweight final on the finale card. Dillashaw dominated Pague, grinding out three tough rounds to win the fight via unanimous decision (30–26, 30–27, 30–26).
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Dillashaw officially made his UFC debut on December 3, 2011, in Las Vegas, Nevada at The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale. The fight was the final of the bantamweight tournament against John Dodson to determine the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 14. Dillashaw lost via TKO.
Dillishaw's sophomore outing came on February 15, 2012, at UFC on Fuel TV 1 against Walel Watson. Dillashaw dominated Watson using his superior wrestling to control him on the ground, while nearly ending the fight several times with multiple submission attempts. Dillashaw won the bout via unanimous decision (30–25, 30–25, 30–26).
Dillashaw fought Vaughan Lee on July 11, 2012, at UFC on Fuel TV: Munoz vs. Weidman. He won the fight by submission via a standing neck crank in the first round.
Dillashaw was expected to face Mike Easton on December 8, 2012, at UFC on Fox 5. However, Dillashaw was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by Bryan Caraway.
Dillashaw faced Issei Tamura on March 16, 2013, at UFC 158. Dillashaw won via knock-out 26 seconds into the second round.
Dillashaw faced Hugo Viana on April 20, 2013, at UFC on Fox 7, replacing an injured Francisco Rivera. He won the fight via TKO in round one.
Dillashaw was briefly linked to a bout with Raphael Assunção on September 4, 2013, at UFC Fight Night 28. The fight was delayed due to Assunção suffering a minor medical issue.
The bout was rescheduled and took place on October 9, 2013, at UFC Fight Night 29. Assunção defeated Dillashaw via split decision. The back and forth action earned both the participants Fight of the Night honors.
Dillashaw faced Mike Easton on January 15, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 35. He won the fight via unanimous decision.
First Bantamweight Championship Reign
Dillashaw was expected to face Takeya Mizugaki on May 24, 2014, at UFC 173. However, with the show losing its main event, Dillashaw was moved up the card to face Bantamweight champion and top 5 pounds for pound Renan Barão in the featured bout. In one of the biggest upsets in UFC and MMA history, Dillashaw won the fight in dominant fashion, defeating Barão via TKO in the fifth round to become the new UFC Bantamweight champion. In addition to winning the title, Dillashaw received bonuses for Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night.
While interviewing Dillashaw after the fight, Joe Rogan said:
That was the greatest performance I have ever seen in my life!… You surpassed all expectations tonight with this performance. This was just stunning…. This was incredible…. T.J., this is one of the finest performances I have ever seen. The best performance — I’ll say it right now — this is the most spectacular performance I have ever seen against a guy in Barão who is easily one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet. Congratulations on just a masterful work tonight. It was an honor calling this fight. Thank you very much, brother.
An immediate rematch with Barão was scheduled to take place on August 30, 2014, at UFC 177. However, on the day of the weigh-ins, Barão had to be admitted to the hospital as a result of his attempts to cut weight and was replaced by Joe Soto who was already scheduled to compete in a fight on the event's preliminary card. Dillashaw defeated Soto via knockout in the fifth round. The win also earned Dillashaw his second consecutive Performance of the Night bonus award.
A rematch with Barão was rescheduled and was expected to take place on April 25, 2015, at UFC 186. However a month before the event, Dillashaw was forced out of the bout after sustaining a broken rib while training.
The rematch eventually took place at UFC on Fox 16 on July 25, 2015. Dillashaw won the fight via TKO in the fourth round to retain his title. He also earned a Performance of the Night bonus.
Dillashaw faced former champion, Dominick Cruz on January 17, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 81 He lost the bout and the title via split decision. Both participants were awarded Fight of the Night honors.
Road back to the title
A rematch with Raphael Assunção took place on July 9, 2016, at UFC 200. He won the fight via unanimous decision.
Dillashaw faced John Lineker on December 30, 2016, at UFC 207. He won via a dominant unanimous decision, wherein the bout was scored a 30-26 in favor of Dillashaw by all three judges.
Coaching The Ultimate Fighter and regaining the title
In January 2017, the UFC announced that Dillashaw would be one of the coaches, opposite current UFC Bantamweight champion (and former Team Alpha Male teammate) Cody Garbrandt on The Ultimate Fighter 25, with the pairing expected to face each other on July 8, 2017, at UFC 213. However, the bout was scrapped on May 23 after Garbrandt sustained a back injury. The bout was rescheduled and eventually took place on November 4, 2017, at UFC 217. Dilashaw won the fight via knockout in the second round to regain the UFC Bantamweight Championship. This win also earned Dillashaw his fifth Performance of the Night bonus award.
Dillashaw faced Cody Garbrandt in a rematch for the UFC Bantamweight Championship on August 4, 2018, at UFC 227. He defeated Garbrandt in the first round by way of TKO. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award.
Superfight with Henry Cejudo
Dillashaw was initially scheduled to face Henry Cejudo on January 26, 2019, at UFC 233 for the UFC Flyweight Championship. However, after that pay-per-view event was cancelled, the fight was moved a week earlier to headline UFC Fight Night 143 on January 19, 2019. Dillashaw lost the fight via TKO just 32 seconds into the first round.
Doping ban and relinquishment of Bantamweight title
On March 20, 2019, Dillashaw announced that he would be voluntarily relinquishing the UFC bantamweight championship after USADA and the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) found adverse findings following his bout against Henry Cejudo. Dillashaw received a 12-month suspension from the NYSAC, retroactive to January 19, 2019, the date of his bout against Cejudo. On April 9, it was announced Dilllashaw had been suspended for two years by USADA (an additional suspension to what was given by the NYSAC) due to testing positive for recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) prior to the Henry Cejudo bout. He became eligible to return on January 19, 2021.
On April 12, Dillashaw broke his silence over the drug test failure and UFC suspension with a post on Instagram, acknowledging that he had used a banned substance and stated that the decision was his alone and that what he "really felt bad about" was the bad light he brought upon his coaches, family, and teammates by association. He also said his use of EPO was limited to the Cejudo fight and said that USADA had retested all of the samples from his prior drug tests to confirm this.
Return from suspension
After the two-year hiatus due to USADA suspension, Dillashaw was scheduled to face Cory Sandhagen on May 8, 2021, at UFC on ESPN 24. However, Dillashaw announced on April 27 that he had to pull out of the fight due to a cut he received from a headbutt in training. The pair was rescheduled and served as the main headliner for UFC on ESPN: Sandhagen vs. Dillashaw on July 24, 2021. Dillashaw won the fight via split decision. The decision was seen as somewhat controversial, with many fans, fighters, and media members expressing their belief that Sandhagen won the bout. 17 of 23 media outlets scored the bout as a victory for Sandhagen. During the fight, Dillashaw suffered a knee injury which is expected to keep him out of action until the early part of 2022.
Personal life
Dillashaw married Rebecca, in June 2014. In October 2015, Dillashaw left Team Alpha Male and moved his camp to Denver, Colorado, to train with his head coach, former UFC fighter Duane Ludwig.
