TJ Dillashaw

Early life

Dillashaw was born in Sonora, California, to Hal and Janice Dillashaw. He grew up in Angels Camp, California, where he also attended Bret Harte High School. During his four years there, T.J. competed on the school's wrestling team and played on the football team for his 2002-2003 junior year. In June 2004 he graduated and enrolled for college at California State University, Fullerton. At college, Dillashaw competed successfully for the Titans wrestling program.

High school

While wrestling for Coach Jan Schulz at Bret Harte High School, Dillashaw was a four-time sectional qualifier and two-time California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) state qualifier. As a junior, Dillashaw placed fifth at the CIF state championships, and ended the season with a record of 45–7. He placed second at the CIF State championships as a senior to cap off a 52–6 record and finished with an overall record of 170–33.

Collegiate

With a successful high school career, Dillashaw received a full-ride scholarship to wrestle for Cal State Fullerton Titans. In the 2005–06 season, Dillashaw's freshman year, he posted a 14–16 record including a 10–8 mark in dual matches. He went 3–4 in Pac-10 dual meets. Dillashaw traveled to Ukraine in the summer of 2006 to work on his wrestling skills. Dillashaw's sophomore season was a more successful one having an overall record of 17–14 with an 11–4 mark in duals, including 5–3 in the Pac-10. In April 2007, he placed sixth in the University Greco Wrestling Championships in Akron, Ohio, at 132.25 pounds. He also placed fourth at the Pac-10 championship in 2007.

In 2008, he placed fourth in the Pac-10 Championships and finished with a 22–10 record with four pins. He was 7–0 in Pac-10 duals, taking second place at Cliff Keen Invitational. His senior season he was ranked 10th in the nation at 133 lbs. Dillashaw is a 3X NCAA qualifier.

Mixed martial arts

After graduating from Cal State Fullerton, Dillashaw contemplated turning to MMA. Former UFC Middeweight Mark "The Filipino Wrecking Machine" Munoz coached at Cal St. Fullerton for 3 years, while competing in the UFC middleweight division and invited Dillashaw to join Reign Training Center pro fighter class at the conclusion of his senior year. After training with Team Reign for a year and a half, Munoz encouraged Dillashaw to move up north closer to his hometown of Angels Camp, CA to Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, CA. Dillashaw began training with Team Alpha Male, and collected a 2–0 amateur record before turning pro.

On March 26, 2010, Dillashaw made his professional debut against fellow pro debutee, Czar Sklavos. Dillashaw used his superior wrestling to earn a dominant unanimous decision win. Two months later, Dillashaw returned to fight Brandon Drucker, winning the fight via first round submission. The fight took place at Fight For Wrestling, an MMA event located in California attempting to raise money to fund the Cal Poly wrestling team.

Dillashaw picked up two more wins to move his record to a perfect 4–0 before trying out for the fourteenth season of The Ultimate Fighter.

The Ultimate Fighter

In 2011, Dillashaw signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship to compete on The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller. In the first episode, he fought Matt Jaggers to gain entry into the Ultimate Fighter house. Dillashaw defeated Jaggers in the first round via TKO.

Dillashaw was selected as a part of Team Bisping, he was the second bantamweight chosen for the team (seventh overall). Dillashaw defeated Roland Delorme via rear naked choke submission in the preliminary round and moved onto the semi-finals. It was there he fought Dustin Pague for the first spot in the bantamweight final on the finale card. Dillashaw dominated Pague, grinding out three tough rounds to win the fight via unanimous decision (30–26, 30–27, 30–26).

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Dillashaw officially made his UFC debut on December 3, 2011, in Las Vegas, Nevada at The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale. The fight was the final of the bantamweight tournament against John Dodson to determine the winner of The Ultimate Fighter 14. Dillashaw lost via TKO.

Dillishaw's sophomore outing came on February 15, 2012, at UFC on Fuel TV 1 against Walel Watson. Dillashaw dominated Watson using his superior wrestling to control him on the ground, while nearly ending the fight several times with multiple submission attempts. Dillashaw won the bout via unanimous decision.

Dillashaw fought Vaughan Lee on July 11, 2012, at UFC on Fuel TV: Munoz vs. Weidman. He won the fight by submission via a standing neck crank in the first round.

Dillashaw was expected to face Mike Easton on December 8, 2012, at UFC on Fox 5. However, Dillashaw was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by Bryan Caraway.

Dillashaw faced Issei Tamura on March 16, 2013, at UFC 158. Dillashaw won via knock-out 26 seconds into the second round.

Dillashaw faced Hugo Viana on April 20, 2013, at UFC on Fox 7, replacing an injured Francisco Rivera. He won the fight via TKO in round one.

Dillashaw was briefly linked to a bout with Raphael Assunção on September 4, 2013, at UFC Fight Night 28. However, the pairing was delayed and took place at a later event this year due to a minor medical issue for Assunção.

The bout with Assunção was rescheduled and took place on October 9, 2013, at UFC Fight Night 29. Assunção defeated Dillashaw via split decision. The back and forth action earned both the participants Fight of the Night honors.

Dillashaw faced Mike Easton on January 15, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 35. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Bantamweight Championship

Dillashaw was expected to face Takeya Mizugaki on May 24, 2014, at UFC 173. However, with the show losing its main event, Dillashaw was moved up the card to face Bantamweight champion and top 5 pound for pound Renan Barão in the featured bout. In one of the biggest upsets in UFC and MMA history, Dillashaw won the fight in dominant fashion, defeating Barão via TKO in the fifth round to become the new UFC Bantamweight champion. In addition to winning the title, Dillashaw received bonuses for Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night.

While interviewing Dillashaw after the fight, Joe Rogan said:

That was the greatest performance I have ever seen in my life!… You surpassed all expectations tonight with this performance. This was just … stunning…. This was incredible…. T.J., this is one of the finest performances I have ever seen. The best performance — I’ll say it right now — this is the most spectacular performance I have ever seen against a guy in Barão who is easily one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet. Congratulations on just a masterful work tonight. It was an honor calling this fight. Thank you very much, brother.

An immediate rematch with Barão was scheduled to take place on August 30, 2014, at UFC 177. However, the day of the weigh-ins, Barão had to be admitted to the hospital as a result of his attempts to cut weight and was replaced by Joe Soto who was already scheduled to compete in a fight on the event's preliminary card. Dillashaw defeated Soto via knockout in the fifth round. The win also earned Dillashaw his second consecutive Performance of the Night bonus award.

A rematch with Barão was rescheduled and was expected to take place on April 25, 2015 at UFC 186. However a month before the event, Dillashaw was forced out of the bout after sustaining a broken rib while training.

The rematch eventually took place at UFC on Fox 16 on July 25, 2015. Dillashaw won the fight via TKO in the fourth round to retain his title. He also earned a Performance of the Night bonus.

Dillashaw faced former champion Dominick Cruz on January 17, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 81 He relinquished the title dropping a split decision. Both participants were awarded Fight of the Night honors.

A rematch with Raphael Assunção took place on July 9, 2016 at UFC 200. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Dillashaw faced John Lineker on December 30, 2016 at UFC 207. He won via a dominant unanimous decision, wherein the bout was scored a 30-26 in favour of Dillashaw by all three judges.

In January 2017, the UFC announced that Dillashaw would be one of the coaches, opposite current UFC Bantamweight champion (and former Team Alpha Male teammate) Cody Garbrandt on The Ultimate Fighter 25, with the pairing expected to face each other on July 8, 2017 at UFC 213. However the bout was scrapped on May 23 after Garbrandt sustained a back injury. The bout was rescheduled and is expected to take place on November 4, 2017 at UFC 217.

Personal life

Dillashaw married his wife, Rebecca, in June 2014. In October 2015, Dillashaw left Team Alpha Male and moved his camp to Denver, Colorado to train with his head coach, former UFC fighter Duane Ludwig.

Championships and achievements

Amateur wrestling