On Saturday night, in the main event of the UFC’s first-ever card on ESPN+, UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw will challenge flyweight champion Henry Cejudo in a bid to become one of the sport’s rare two-division champions.
Apparently, however, winning two belts is only the primary goal for TJ Dillashaw. In the lead-up to this fight with Cejudo, Dillashaw has repeatedly mentioned that he’s interested in eventually moving up to the featherweight division to battle local champ Max Holloway for a third UFC belt.
“Would I move up to 145 [pounds]? Absolutely, man,” TJ Dillashaw said on a recent Instagram live video. “I would love to. I’m a professional. I train hard. Making ’25s has been a process in its own… To get my body down there and do it the right way. ’45s would have to be the same thing, it would be a lot of work.
“Right now I’m in love with food because I don’t get to eat as much of it. If I went ’45s I’d hate it because I’d be doing nothing but stuffing my face but that’s definitely something I would love to do.”
Surprisingly, UFC President Dana White seems pretty interested in this idea from TJ Dillashaw. The UFC boss shared his thoughts on this potentiality on Get Up! on ESPN, giving Dillashaw props for his ambition.
“He’s talking about moving up to 145 pounds to fight Max Holloway,” Dana White said of TJ Dillashaw. “Max Holloway is so much bigger than him… It’s pretty crazy, but impressive. I like his style. I like what he’s thinking. He’d be the first three-belt champion if he could pull that off.”
While White seems interested in this possibility, however, he understands why Dillashaw’s three-title goal has drawn the ire Henry Cejudo, who will be not be willing to give up his flyweight belt without a fight.
“[Cejudo] said it again yesterday, man,” White said. “‘[Cejudo said] ‘stop looking through me, you’re looking through me, it’s a big mistake.’ I don’t think Dillashaw is looking through him. Dillashaw’s been around for a long time, he knows Cejudo is tough.”
Do you think we’ll see TJ Dillashaw fighting Max Holloway for a third belt in the future?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 1/18/2019.