TJ Dillashaw has responded to claims that what he did by fighting injured at UFC 280 was ‘borderline fraud’.

At UFC 280, TJ Dillashaw was finished via TKO by Aljamain Sterling. Anyone who watched it, though, knows that isn’t even close to the full story.

Dillashaw went into the contest with a badly damaged shoulder that he claimed had popped out more than 20 times during his training camp. Despite this, he persisted and went ahead with the bout.

It took less than a minute for the shoulder issue to reappear, with the former champion lasting until the second round before Sterling finished him.

Dillashaw apologised in the aftermath for holding the division up, but fans and pundits weren’t happy.

One accusation was that he committed ‘borderline fraud’ by competing. In response to that, TJ had the following to say.

“Like I’m not being thrown under the bus enough,” he said. “Like he thinks I went in there to collect a paycheck. I went in there with the utmost belief that I was going to win, and I was going to get my title back, something I’ve been waiting to do for three-and-a-half years and chomping at the bit. I just beat Cory Sandhagen on one leg, and why not? Why would I not believe I can beat a guy who’s less dangerous and that I matched up with really well.

Dillashaw explains himself

“The shoulder obviously came out a lot sooner than I hoped and didn’t go back in, which, on average, was not the case – so unfortunate kind of events.”

Quotes via MMA Fighting

TJ is expected to be out for up to another year after surgery next Tuesday.

What do you think about TJ Dillashaw’s decision to go ahead with the UFC 280 fight? Let us know in the comments, BJPENN Nation!