Demetrious Johnson had a recent run-in with TJ Dillashaw and questioned the former UFC bantamweight champion why he took EPO.
Johnson (30-4-1 MMA) and Dillashaw (17-4 MMA) appeared to be on a collision course back in 2017. ‘Mighty Mouse’ was dominating the 125lbs ranks and ‘Killashaw’ had established himself as the reigning bantamweight king.
TJ Dillashaw eventually challenged Demetrious Johnson to fight at 125lbs, but the high profile matchup never came to fruition.
“Well, see, the whole TJ Dillashaw thing, we gave our demands if we were gonna do the TJ Dillashaw fight. And one of the demands was: If he couldn’t make weight, 125, then we get to fight at 135 for his belt, and I think we were gonna get some of his purse,” Johnson explained on The MMA Hour (h/t MMANews). “And the UFC was like, ‘No, no, no. We can’t do it.’”
Demetrious Johnson continued:
“Because me being an athlete, I knew when TJ cuts to 135, he’s already shredded. He’s already shredded. And I knew if he cut to 125, he couldn’t do it healthy, and I just knew he couldn’t do it. And he’s proven that he’s made the weight, but he couldn’t do it healthy, and he popped for that fuckin’ EPO drug, whatever he was doing. And I talked to him about it, too. He was like, ‘Dude, I wanted it so bad.’”
Demetrious Johnson went on and revealed that he had a recent run-in with TJ Dillashaw where he decided to ask the former bantamweight champion why he decided to take EPO.
“I was like, ‘Damn, dawg, why’d you do it?’ He was like, ‘Dude, I wanted to make 125 so bad. I would wake up in the morning and I would just be exhausted. So I started taking this stuff, and it just helped me bounced back.’ So I give him respect by him just being straight up,” Johnson said.
‘Mighty Mouse’ is set to return to action this December at ONE X, where he will square off with Rodtang in a special rules contest (more on that here).
As for TJ Dillashaw, ‘Killashaw’ is currently recovering from surgery and expects to be fighting for the UFC bantamweight title his next time out.