Best and Worst from UFC Fight Night 143: Cejudo vs. Dillashaw

#2 Worst: Was Dillashaw stopped too early?

Was Dillashaw stopped too early in his fight with Cejudo?

While Henry Cejudo’s performance in the main event was undoubtedly fantastic, it’s unfortunate that coming out of the event, the main talking point – aside from Greg Hardy – has largely centred around the idea that the fight was stopped a little too soon. Sure, TJ Dillashaw was badly hurt and was taking a lot of shots, but he was never actually unconscious and has since claimed that he could’ve continued.

Dana White has also agreed, labelling it a “horrible stoppage”, basically suggesting that in a big-time title fight like last night’s, the fighters should be given a longer leash in terms of being allowed time to recover. I’m not sure that I agree with that – all fights should be treated equally – but I could see the argument that Dillashaw was stopped too soon.

Essentially though, would it have made a difference had the referee let the fight continue? For me, probably not – I suspect Cejudo was about to finish him regardless – but this is the kind of thing that a fighter like Dillashaw will probably be able to parlay into a rematch, rightly or wrongly. It leaves a question hanging over an amazing showing from Cejudo and in that sense, it’s a bit frustrating.