"That performance was actually very inspiring" - Sean O'Malley praises T.J. Dillashaw for his comeback win over Cory Sandhagen

Sean O’Malley had words of praise for T.J. Dillashaw after the former champion's win over Cory Sandhagen. Dillashaw claimed a split-decision victory in his return to the octagon after a two-year layoff.

During an appearance on the latest edition of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, 'Sugar' heaped praise on T.J. Dillashaw for an impressive comeback fight.

“Honestly, it was one of the sweetest performances I’ve seen, especially coming back – Coming off of, you know, so many questions marks of – Is he gonna have the cardio? Is he gonna be able to push? Is he gonna have that same mindset without needles in his bu**? He did. T.J. Dillashaw was mentally there for 25 minutes; hurt his knee early on, was getting pieced up early on, and found a way to win. So, that performance was actually very inspiring."

"It was really impressive, really good to watch. You know, TJ, I was questioning; I didn’t know where he’d be. I’m like, ‘We’ll see’. I thought he wouldn’t have that same push, that same drive, that same cardio; and he did. So, I was actually very impressed with that performance.”

Sean O’Malley and TJ Dillashaw have their sights set on UFC bantamweight gold

Sean O'Malley (left); Kris Moutinho (right)

Presently, both Sean O’Malley and T.J. Dillashaw are on their respective quests to capture the UFC bantamweight title. O’Malley is a rising star in the sport, whereas Dillashaw is a former UFC bantamweight champion. Dillashaw’s looking to recapture the title that he’d vacated after his failed drug tests.

Back in January 2019, then-UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw dropped down to flyweight to challenge for the UFC title in that division. Dillashaw faced then-UFC flyweight champion Henry Cejudo for the title. Cejudo beat Dillashaw via first-round TKO, with Dillashaw thereby failing to win a UFC title in a second weight class.

It was later revealed that T.J. Dillashaw tested positive for EPO in both the pre-fight and post-fight drug tests. EPO is a banned PED, and Dillashaw was resultantly handed a two-year suspension. He returned to the octagon this July and bested Cory Sandhagen via split decision. Dillashaw is currently recovering from a knee injury.

Meanwhile, O’Malley’s last fight was a third-round TKO win over Kris Moutinho at UFC 264 in July 2021. Much like T.J Dillashaw, Sean O’Malley also his sights set on the UFC bantamweight title.

#UFC264 Official Result: Sean O'Malley (@SugaSeanMMA) defeats Kris Moutinho via TKO at 4:33 of Round 3. All #UFC264 Results ⤵️:

— UFC News (@UFCNews) July 11, 2021