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UFC Star Compared to ‘A**holes’ Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, by Ex-Fighter for This Reason

Afnan Chougle
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Ex-UFC fighter drew parallels between former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw and NBA greats Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. 

TJ Dillashaw returned to fighting last year after a two-year suspension due to drug test failure. He won against a top-tier contender, Cory Sandhagen, in July 2021. Now, Dillashaw is fighting for the bantamweight gold next against Aljamain Sterling this weekend at UFC 280.

Ahead of one of the biggest fights of his career, the former champion was recently compared to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant by former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub.

What did Brendan Schaub say about TJ Dillashaw, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant

Brendan Schaub is a former UFC heavyweight fighter who competed for the promotion from 2009 to 2014. After retiring from the sport, started his podcast channel, where he analyzes UFC fights and gives his prediction on them.

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In his most recent videos, Brendan Schaub was breaking down the UFC 280 fights. Thus, he also talked about the co-main event of the pay-per-view Aljamain Sterling vs. TJ Dillashaw.

While talking about Dillashaw, Schaub was of the opinion that the former champion has a similar mindset to that of NBA legends Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan.

He said, “The amount of drive that TJ Dillashaw has, very few athletes have in all sports. Kobe had it, Jordan had it. They are all a**holes. TJ’s not gonna win any nice guy awards… He has one goal only and that’s to be the very very f**king best.”

UFC 280 is a golden opportunity for Dillashaw

Dillashaw is undoubtedly one of the greatest bantamweight fighters in the history of the sport. However, the drug test failure after his loss in 2019 left a blemish on his legacy.

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A post shared by TJ Dillashaw (@tjdillashaw)

Despite that, the American returned to the UFC with all he had and displayed the heart of a warrior in his fight in 2021. Subsequently, he earned the approval of many fans and UFC pundits after that triumph.

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Now UFC 280 is his ultimate test, and the prize is UFC gold. If Dillashaw succeeds in retaining the bantamweight title, there will be nothing much for him to prove. He will be listed among the all-time greats in the UFC record book.

Do you think Dillashaw will be a champion again?

About the author

Afnan Chougle

Afnan Chougle

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Afnan Chougle is a UFC author and content manager at The SportsRush. Afnan has written over 900 articles about combat sports before joining The SportsRush. He has now worked in the industry for over two years. He uses his expertise and enthusiasm to advance his professional career and offers insightful commentary on anything related to combat sports. Since UFC 229, Khabib Nurmagomedov fan Afnan has faithfully followed MMA. Besides "The Eagle," Muhammad Ali is his favorite athlete. Apart from his professional exploits as a UFC journalist, Afnan enjoys honing his skills as an amateur actor/boxer and loves going on occasional treks.

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