3 reasons why T.J. Dillashaw can regain the UFC bantamweight title and 2 reasons why he can't

#2. T.J. Dillashaw essentially has no weaknesses in his game

T.J. Dillashaw is excellent in all areas of fighting.

Perhaps the biggest reason that makes T.J. Dillashaw capable of regaining the UFC bantamweight title is that even at the highest level of the UFC, he’s an unusually brilliant fighter.

The UFC bantamweight division is filled with hugely talented fighters right now, from current champion Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan to the likes of Rob Font and T.J. Dillashaw’s opponent this weekend, Cory Sandhagen. However, it’s fair to say that all of them have known weaknesses.

Sterling’s striking is improving, but it remains a work in progress. Yan, Font and Sandhagen all have big question marks around their ground games, and have arguably never been fully tested there.

T.J. Dillashaw, on the other hand, essentially has no weaknesses in his game. When he arrived in the UFC in 2011, he came in renowned as a high-level collegiate wrestler. That grappling took him to the finals of TUF 14, and in his early UFC days, it earned him wins over fighters like Walel Watson and Vaughan Lee.

By 2014 though, Dillashaw’s work with renowned coach Duane ‘Bang’ Ludwig had enabled him to develop a deadly striking game based around combinations, forward pressure and serious knockout power. In hindsight, it’s understandable how he was able to defeat then-UFC champ Renan Barao on two occasions.

If you’re looking for any holes in Dillashaw’s overall game, it’s practically impossible to find them. He’s never been out-grappled, and even the great Dominick Cruz was unable to outstrike him, winning a contentious decision in their 2016 clash.

Some fans might question Dillashaw’s chin after he was knocked out by Henry Cejudo, but the truth is that the knockout was more likely to have been caused by a nasty weight cut. After all, Dillashaw famously survived a huge shot from known knockout artist Cody Garbrandt at UFC 217 – and came back to win the fight.

So on paper, at least, T.J. Dillashaw probably has the best overall game in the UFC bantamweight division right now, and the least weaknesses too. In that sense, he’s definitely capable of regaining the UFC bantamweight title.

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#1. The UFC bantamweight title picture is highly fluid right now

Aljamain Sterling is the third man to hold the UFC bantamweight title after T.J. Dillashaw vacated the belt in 2019

T.J. Dillashaw’s goal of regaining the UFC bantamweight title is definitely not going to be easy, but it would be even harder to achieve if the UFC had a dominant bantamweight champion right now. But the truth is that the promotion doesn’t.

That’s to take nothing away from current champion Aljamain Sterling, despite the way he won the title. There’s no disputing that ‘Funk Master’ is a genuinely brilliant fighter and a worthy titleholder.

However, since T.J. Dillashaw vacated the title in early 2019, the UFC bantamweight title has been fluid, to say the least.

Then-UFC flyweight champ Henry Cejudo claimed the vacant title by upsetting top contender Marlon Moraes, but after just one defense against Dominick Cruz, who hadn’t fought since 2016, ‘Triple C’ decided to step away from the UFC.

Petr Yan then won the vacant title but defeated Jose Aldo, who was coming off a loss. He then dropped it in his very first defense, albeit via disqualification, to Sterling.

That means that the title picture in the UFC’s bantamweight division is more fluid than it’s ever been – suggesting that none of the division’s top fighters are close to unbeatable right now. And that should make for the perfect climate for Dillashaw to return.

If T.J. Dillashaw can beat Cory Sandhagen this weekend, then he would almost certainly be in a position to fight the winner of the upcoming Sterling vs. Yan rematch – and he’d most likely be confident of unseating either man to regain the title, too.