TJ Dillashaw is no longer the UFC bantamweight champion. He surrendered that title when he tested positive for EPO, an injectable-only performance-enhancing drug, and was suspended for two years by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
Many members of the MMA community were shocked to learn of Dillashaw’s PED use. But not everybody.
Joseph Benavidez, a former training partner of TJ Dillashaw at Team Alpha Male, is only surprised it took Dillashaw so long to get caught.
“I wasn’t surprised at all that he finally got caught,” Benavidez told MMA Junkie over the weekend (transcript via MMA Fighting). “Wasn’t surprising at all. There’s nothing I can really say as far as, like, that hasn’t already been said. I’m not gonna sit here and say the guy is this and that because if you look at the internet and everyone, it’s already been said. So there’s nothing worse you can say than what everyone already thinks, which I think is warranted. Everything that people are out there giving him, it’s 100 percent warranted for what he did.”
“It just goes to show, there’s consequences for what you do and you can’t hide who you are forever,” Benavidez added. “I’m surprised it took that long for him to get caught, and hid what he’s about this long. But you can’t hide that stuff forever. It’s great that it came out. There are consequences and if anything, I don’t think the consequences are that much. It’s not that bad. Get some surgeries. You got paid the day after the fight anyway. So it’s not like you’re getting suspended for the year. But like I said, it’s all the other things. All the disgrace and everything that is warranted, and maybe hurts more.”
What do you make of these comments from Joseph Benavidez on the TJ Dillashaw situation?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 4/22/2019.