T.J. Dillashaw, a former UFC bantamweight champion, retired in 2022 due to severe shoulder injuries that have worsened despite multiple surgeries, leaving him uncertain about his future in grappling and struggling with limited mobility and quality of life.
T.J. Dillashaw doesn’t want to give up hope on ever competing again. But he’s not sure he’ll even be able to get back to grappling due to his ongoing shoulder injury struggles.
The now 38-year-old former UFC bantamweight champion retired in 2022. This came after a loss to Aljamain Sterling and continued shoulder issues post-multiple surgeries.
After that fight, Dillashaw revealed something shocking. He “probably dislocated” his shoulder 20 times during training camp.
Now, nearly two years later, Dillashaw is still battling with his shoulder. Another surgery has limited his mobility even more than before.
“I can’t even raise my arm up in the air yet,” Dillashaw said on the Jaxxxon podcast. When asked about going for his black belt, he added, “I don’t know if my shoulder’s ever going to be the same again.”
“It’s f*cking depressing,” he admitted candidly. “As a competitor, you have to be delusionally optimistic, but that’s also what got me in this position too.”
Dillashaw faced shoulder problems throughout the latter part of his UFC career. Ultimately, these issues led him to hang up his gloves.
Since retiring, Dillashaw has sought help from doctors continuously. Unfortunately, good news has been rare.
From muscle grafts to using cadaver parts—he’s endured plenty of invasive surgeries. Yet, he’s nowhere close to being fully healed.
“It’s just gotten worse and worse from each surgery,” Dillashaw shared somberly. “I had a massive surgery… it looked like a bomb went off in there.”
He detailed the extensive procedures: removing and replacing parts of muscles and rotator cuffs with pieces from other areas or cadaver bones. “So there’s a lot of healing to be done,” he concluded.
“I’m hoping that maybe just me staying after my [physical therapy] is going to make it better.” He sounded uncertain but hopeful. “This is my third surgery since my last fight and it’s not looking good.”
“I just had an MRI done on Saturday,” he mentioned casually yet anxiously. “I’ll probably figure out next week what that f*cking looks like.”
At his peak, Dillashaw was one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in MMA history. Arguably one of the best bantamweights ever.
He lost two years of his career due to testing positive for EPO (recombinant human erythropoietin). Despite this setback, he returned with a win over Cory Sandhagen in 2021 for another title shot.
But after losing against Sterling and continued shoulder problems, Dillashaw retired from the UFC again. He kept trying to repair the damage so he could potentially compete once more.
Sadly though, it appears Dillashaw really is done with fighting now—just battling for quality of life instead.
“It’s depressing,” Dillashaw reiterated somberly. “Going from being a professional athlete to having one arm—it’s a tough pill to swallow.”