T.J. Dillashaw Hints at Moving Up to Challenge Max Holloway and Become a Three-Division Champ

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On Saturday, T.J. Dillashaw will attempt to become only the fourth fighter in Ultimate Fighting Championship history to simultaneously hold belts in two weight divisions, and he’s hinting that he already has his mind on bigger things -- literally.

Bantamweight champion Dillashaw, who is going down in weight to face flyweight champ Henry Cejudo at UFC on ESPN+ 1, recently revealed he would be open to a fight against Max Holloway at featherweight. Hypothetically, if Dillashaw were to beat Holloway and claim the featherweight belt he would become the first a triple-division belt holder in the history of the promotion.

In a recent Instagram live video, Dillashaw said he was confident of beating Cejudo next Saturday before teasing another super fight at 145 pounds against Holloway (transcription via MMA Junkie):

“Everyone wants me to go to featherweight and fight Max,” Dillashaw said. “I would love to. But look, one step at a time. Let’s run through Cejudo first then Max can be next. [I can] be the first one to ever go for three belts.”

Duane Ludwig, Dillashaw’s head coach, told MMA Junkie that he sees more danger moving up in weight than down, as his fighter may become slower when trying to put more muscle on to compete with larger opponents.

“I think that would be more of a challenge to go up in weight than it has been to go down in weight,” Ludwig said. “T.J. is not a big bantamweight anyway. Going up in weight, that’s when we’ll see more change.

“I assume he would become possibly a little slower, but have more power,” Ludwig added. “But we’ll see what ends up happening if that’s the journey for us. Right now we’re focused on the task at hand.” UFC on ESPN+ 1, also known as UFC Fight Night 143, is headlined by a flyweight title fight between flyweight champ Henry Cejudo and T.J. Dillashaw on Jan. 19, 2019 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Co-headlining the inaugural ESPN+ event will be a heavyweight slugfest between Greg Hardy and Allen Crowder.