T.J. Dillashaw has accepted Jose Aldo’s callout, but not as his next fight.
Dillashaw (16-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC), who cemented himself as the No. 1 contender when he edged out Cory Sandhagen in an all-out war in July, is ready to reclaim the belt he never lost.
The former two-time UFC bantamweight champion relinquished his belt after testing positive for EPO in 2019. After serving a two-year suspension, he has picked up right where he left off. Dillashaw has been called out by plenty of ranked bantamweights, including former featherweight king Aldo (30-7 MMA, 12-6 UFC), who’s coming off a big win over Pedro Munhoz at UFC 265.
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“Yeah, I like the callout,” Dillashaw told Submission Radio. “I would like to fight Jose Aldo. He’s a legend of our sport, and we can do it after I get my belt back.
“I’ve actually been called out I think by every fighter in the, for sure top five, if not top 10, after they won a fight before I came back and fought Sandhagen. I swear every fighter called me out because it makes sense. I mean, I’m the true champion of the division, and you’re trying to build your name off me, thinking that I’ve been out for two years, that I’m coming off all this drama, that I’m not going to be the same fighter. And Sandhagen made that mistake, as well, and now he’s having to go further back to try and get to a title.”
Dillashaw is currently healing from knee surgery and gearing up to face the winner of the rematch between champion Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan at UFC 267. Although surging contender Rob Font is technically higher than Aldo in the title-contention pecking order, Dillashaw is certainly interested in facing future UFC Hall of Famer Aldo after his title shot.
“I mean, just Aldo’s name alone makes it interesting, right?” Dillashaw said. “Like, I would love that fight. So yeah, maybe it would be my first fight as champ beause Jose Aldo is a legend in the sport. I remember him in the WEC before I even had my first professional fight. He was fighting Urijah (Faber) when I was training there, so the guy’s been on top of the world for a long time. So it would be a dope fight.”