Cory Sandhagen Believes T.J. Dillashaw Is Avoiding Him

Cory Sandhagen is afraid his No. 1 contender spot will be usurped based on name, rather than accomplishment.

The past weekend, the “Sandman” (14-2) scored the most crucial victory of his career and secured a possible 135-pound title shot when he knocked out former lightweight champ Frankie Edgar with a flying knee in just 28 seconds. Now, it appears that he has some unsolved business with another former titleholder, two-time bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw, who has finished his two-year USADA suspension and is about to make his return. Sandhagen believes that Dillashaw, a onetime training partner, has no interest in fighting him for a spot at the top of the division.

“The guy was supposed to be back in January,” Sandhagen said this week on ESPN. “The time would’ve been perfect for us to fight, and he didn’t, so I don’t know what that’s about. I don’t think he wants the fight. I’m worried that T.J. is going to fight for the belt before me and still not want the fight, and then me be kind of stuck in this limbo thing because T.J. is just a bigger name, and maybe he just gets to call the shots a little more. That’s what I’m worried about.”

Sandhagen then added a few details about when he and Dillashaw trained together. According to him, Sandhagen prevailed when it came to sparring behind closed doors.

“I did well against T.J. in the gym when we used to train together, and I think that’s another reason that he doesn’t want to take the fight,” he added. “I don’t even think T.J. should even be in the conversation right now, especially off of his history. He was doing some of the most serious steroids that you can do in this sport. He was giving himself an unfair advantage in combat sports, which is just disrespectful to everyone in the division and the sport. I don’t want to see him come back and just get a title shot. To me, that’s not cool.”

Dillashaw (16-4) has been absent from competition since Jan. 19, 2019, when his attempt to drop to flyweight and become a two-division champion ended in a first-round knockout loss to Henry Cejudo. Two months later, Dillashaw relinquished his bantamweight title, one day ahead of the announcement that he had tested positive for erythropoietin, a banned performance enhancer. The resulting two-year suspension ended last month, but the 35-year-old has yet to have a date or opponent announced for his return to action.