T.J. Dillashaw is still frustrated with his loss to Henry Cejudo at UFC on ESPN+ 1 this month. He hasn’t changed his mind on the controversial stoppage and remains keen on acquiring a rematch.

Dillashaw (16-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC), the UFC bantamweight champ who unsuccessfully dropped down to challenge flyweight champ Cejudo (14-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) with a 32-second TKO loss, doesn’t believe he’ll get over the result anytime soon. However, he is doing his best to occupy his mind with other things.

“It’s been rough, man,” Dillashaw said Thursday on the “JRE MMA Show” podcast with UFC commentator Joe Rogan. “It’s a rough one to swallow on multiple reasons. It’s definitely been bugging me, but I’m good at keeping my mind off things and staying busy. I’m already back in the gym, doing business things and staying as busy as I can to keep my mind off it so I don’t want to punch a hole in the wall every time I walk by one.”

After absorbing a shot from Cejudo early in the fight, Dillashaw was in recovery mode. He felt he was getting himself into position to escape danger when referee Kevin MacDonald stepped in and called it off. Dillashaw immediately protested, but the stoppage had been made.

Dillashaw vented his frustration post-fight and said he’d been “robbed” of a chance to truly compete after making a long and highly calculated cut down to flyweight.

“I felt the best I’ve ever felt before I walked out before the fight,” Dillashaw said. “That’s just another reason why I’m so bitter about this thing, because I didn’t get to show the work that I put in. I didn’t get to show all the science behind Sam Calavitta and what he did with my body. I was stronger for this fight than I was my last Cody (Garbrandt) fight. I walked out two pounds heavier for this fight than I did my last Cody fight. Before I started warming up I weighed 149.”

Dillashaw further elaborated on his weight cut while claiming he would gladly do it again if presented with the opportunity for a rematch.

“I looked like a tweaker,” Dillashaw said. “If I would’ve decided to lose all the weight at the end I wouldn’t have looked like that. But I got my body down to five or six percent body fat. When I lose anything at the end you’re going to see it in my face. I’m one of those guys that loses and gains weight out of my face.

“After my fights we call myself ‘Fat Tyler’ because my real name’s Tyler and I go by T.J., and Justin Buchholz gave me that name back at Team Alpha Male because I have a puffy face after my fights, and my alter ego is ‘Fat Tyler’ because I’m going around eating and being an asshole. I did it over 12 weeks so my body fat percentage was down to five percent. When you lose any more water weight or anything it comes out of your face.”

For Dillashaw, keeping active is a big part of his plan for 2019. He wants Cejudo next but also knows there’s a key bantamweight fight between Raphael Assuncao and Marlon Moraes scheduled for Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 2 headliner that will put pressure on him to defend against the winner.

“I’d say the one that really plays a factor is Assuncao and Moraes,” Dillashaw said. “I’ve beaten Assuncao before, and Moraes is looking good too. But Assuncao’s got a big win streak, so we’ll see. It depends if I fight Cejudo at ’35 too. I don’t know what’s what.”

Dillashaw focused solely on running it back with Cejudo but said he has minimal knowledge of the UFC’s desired direction, so he’s sitting idle.

“He’s been in talks with Hunter (Campbell) and Dana (White) I hope to figure out something soon, because I’ll fight tomorrow,” Dillashaw said. “I’ll fight Henry at whatever weight he wants. Obviously I would prefer ’25 because of all the work, and I want to show I know what I’m doing, and that this was a fluke.”

Apparently Cejudo’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz has other ideas (via Twitter):

I watched @HenryCejudo vs @TJDillashaw fight so many times. 3 knockdowns and 25 unanswered strikes, TJ doesn’t deserve a rematch, he has zero case for a rematch but it’s completely up to Henry on what he wants to do.

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