Aljamain Sterling remains the UFC bantamweight champion and was dominant against an all-time great. But his second title defense against T.J. Dillashaw didn’t come without an unfortunate asterisk.
An obvious shoulder dislocation for Dillashaw left him a one-armed fighter as Sterling took him down and pounded out a ground-and-pound win at the 3:44 mark of Round 2. Afterward, Dillashaw estimated he’d dislocated his left shoulder 20 times in training camp and apologized to the bantamweight division for holding up title opportunities.
Sterling, meanwhile, welcomed bouts with Sean O’Malley, who outpointed ex-champ Petr Yan one fight earlier, the soon-to-return former champ Henry Cejudo, and contender Chito Vera, who quickly responded in kind.
Here’s what fighters had to say about the UFC 280 co-main event between Sterling and Dillashaw at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
Im Gonna put the whole bag of chitos on ya mouth
— C H T O V E R A (@chitoveraUFC) October 22, 2022
If I was in TJ’s corner I would throw the towel before the finish #ufc280
— Rafael dos Anjos (@RdosAnjosMMA) October 22, 2022
Dillashaw deserves credit for taking that step in the octagon.
But not taking anything from Aljarmin performance, he would’ve win eitherway.
— Francis Ngannou (@francis_ngannou) October 22, 2022
Tj is wild for that one coming in with 1 arm. Respect but damn bro
— Dominick Reyes (@DomReyes) October 22, 2022
Top notch win @sterling #UFC280
— Dominick Cruz (@DominickCruz) October 22, 2022
Injuries suck congrats to aljo wrestling puts miles on body sucks it had to happen like that
— Terrance ‘T Wrecks’ McKinney (@twrecks155) October 22, 2022
Congrats @funkmasterMMA. I’m next #UFC280
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) October 22, 2022
Gutted to him. And for Aljo.
Seems like everyone knew he was injured. Sounding defeated in the commentator interviews, no open workout, no pads in the back…
Unfortunate for everyone. #UFC280
— Dan Hardy (@danhardymma) October 22, 2022
TJ trying to put his own shoulder back in is actually insane…
Aljo did what he needed to do and looked great doing it
Hopefully he doesn’t say anything problematic on the mic now #UFC280
— Megan Anderson (@MeganAnderson) October 22, 2022
Very unfortunate for @TJDillashaw with the shoulder injury. Speedy recovery brother. Congrats to the champ @funkmasterMMA #UFC280
— Sergio Pettis (@sergiopettis) October 22, 2022
Aljo is something serious UFC280
— Derek Brunson (@DerekBrunson) October 22, 2022
Congrats to the Champ Aljo
— Platinum Mike Perry (@PlatinumPerry) October 22, 2022
Kudos to Dillashaw for being so tough. All Aljo though #UFC280 #AndStill
— Vince Morales (@vandetta135) October 22, 2022
That’s that EPO shoulder
— Sodiq Yusuff (@Super_Sodiq) October 22, 2022
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