The UFC 280 press conference went down this morning from Abu Dhabi and there was a lot of heat between the fighters as you’d expect. Petr Yan got physical with Sean O’Malley, and T.J. Dillashaw got in a pretty good burn on Aljamain Sterling.
Sterling has been doing most of the talking leading up to his fight with Dillashaw, who has admitted he’s not much of an internet guy. He hasn’t always fared the best when it comes to in-person smack talk, either. Older fans may remember him getting verbally dismantled by Dominick Cruz during the build-up to their 2016 fight.
Dillashaw did pretty well, though, when Aljamain Sterling once again accused him of still being on performance enhancing drugs.
“You guys are all familiar with the ‘Embedded’ episodes?” Sterling asked the crowd. “For some reason I haven’t seen T.J. in any of the Embedded episodes. That’s how he got caught last time. I wonder if there’s something going on again that might be a little fishy, T.J.”
He can test these nuts in his mouth.#UFC280 pic.twitter.com/8Ykr2H9Rxr
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) October 20, 2022
“Look, I’ve come to terms with it, it’s time now,” Dillashaw said before getting annoyed at Aljo’s interruptions.
“Speak up like a man!” Sterling yelled.
“You’re gonna get your ass whipped by a cheater, motherf***er,” Dillashaw replied. “How do you feel about that?”
“If he’s so worried about it, he can come test me himself,” Dillashaw continued. “He can test deez nuts in his mouth. This DJ Jazzy Jeff looking motherf***er is gonna be down there saying ‘Test, test one two, is this working?’ He’s gonna be a rapper supposedly. He’s already been a failed actor. Now he’s gonna be a failed rapper.”
The crowd roared and Aljamain Sterling laughed, clapping for T.J. Dillashaw’s tirade. And while it would have been interesting to hear more from the two as they prepare to fight for the bantamweight title at UFC 280, that was the last back and forth between the two at the press conference.
Aljamain Sterling is on a seven fight winning streak and looking to defend the 135 pound title for the second time. T.J. Dillashaw is a two-time bantamweight champion, having captured the title back in 2014 from Renan Barao.
He defended the title twice before losing it to Dominick Cruz. In 2017 he’d win the title again, this time from Cody Garbrandt. He defended the title once before an ill-advised move to 125, and an even more ill-advised decision to use EPO. That cost him his title, which he’s hoping to win again on Saturday for a historic third time.
What do you think of T.J. Dillashaw and Aljamain Sterling’s trash talk at the UFC 280 press conference, PENN Nation? Is Aljamain onto something? Did T.J. just out himself? Or was that some solid trash talk from Dillashaw? Let us know in the comments!