UFC 280: Dana White hits out at TJ Dillashaw for hiding injury before loss to Aljamain Sterling

Dillashaw was stopped in Round 2 after battling a dislocated shoulder – an injury he suffered ‘20 times’ during his training camp

Dana White has criticised TJ Dillashaw for concealing the shoulder injury that plagued the bantamweight during his UFC 280 loss to Aljamain Sterling.

Former champion Dillashaw was challenging current title holder Sterling in the co-main event, which the latter won via second-round TKO as Dillashaw visibly struggled with a dislocated shoulder.

In his post-fight interview, Dillashaw, 36, said: “I completely blew my shoulder out at the end of April.

“It probably dislocated a good 20 times during training camp. I told the referee in the back, my shoulder would most likely pop out.

“Hats off to Aljamain for doing what he does. I apologise to the weight class; I took up a position, but I wasn’t going to wait another year for a [title] shot.”

At the post-fight press conference, UFC president White said: “I had no idea, so that’s a problem.

“How could the athletic commission know if he doesn’t tell us? You’ve got to tell us.

“He looked good. It’s not like he came in out of shape or looked like he was injured, but yeah, that’s something he should have told us.”

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American Dillashaw was fighting for the first time in 15 months, having won a controversial split decision against Cory Sandhagen in July 2021 – a fight in which he suffered a knee injury.

That bout marked Dillashaw’s first time competing since completing a two-year suspension, after testing positive for a banned substance in January 2019.