T.J. Dillashaw once fought through several ligament tears that shredded his knee early in a UFC battle.
On Sunday’s UFC 280, the two-time former bantamweight champion tried to do something even more outrageous – beat champion Aljamain Sterling with a dislocated shoulder.
Dillashaw dislocated his shoulder less than 20 seconds into the first round when he was taken to the ground by his rival, leaving him helplessly trying to hold off the champ.
Somehow, he survived the first round despite copping a beating – before his corner quickly relocated his shoulder and sent him back out.
“I can’t believe he made it,” Paul Felder said in commentary.
“His toughness is on another level.”
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But in the second round, his severely compromised arm was feeble and practically useless, leaving him attempting desperately to win the fight virtually one-handed.
He dislocated the shoulder AGAIN in the second round, before the referee finally stepped in to stop the fight as Sterling battered his defenceless opponent.
Afterwards, Dillashaw said: “I completely blew my shoulder out in April … dislocated it 20 times during training camp.”
He added that he had told the referee before the fight that he expected his shoulder to pop out mid-fight, but asked him not to stop the fight if that was the case. He did not participate in public workouts this week, nor did he warm up on fight night by hitting against pads.
Sterling said he didn’t know Dillashaw’s shoulder popped out at the start of the bout, and had to be told by his corner.
“I had no idea, I was just in the zone,” he said. In the second round, Sterling looked stunned that his rival continued to fight – as Dillashaw tried to relocate his shoulder mid-round.
But Sterling’s corner memorably shouted: “No Mercy!”
Dillashaw’s revelation left fans and rivals stunned that the bout was even allowed to go ahead.
