2019 kicks off with a super fight between the 135-pound champion, TJ Dillashaw (16-3), and the 125-pound champion, Henry Cejudo (13-2). With a trend of double champions happening the in UFC right now, which one of these two fighters will become the fourth fighter to ever do it?
Dillashaw has been arguably the king of the bantamweights for a while now, winning his last seven out of eight fights, six of which were title bouts. He would get his first title win back in 2014 against Renan Barao, who at the time was one of the most dominating fighters and who many thought would hold the belt for a long time. TJ went in there and used his great footwork and combinations to finish Barao. He would go on and defend his title twice before losing it to the returning Dominick Cruz by a close split decision. That loss didn’t slow Dillashaw down, he was hungry for another title shot, so he beat two tough competitors in John Lineker and Raphael Assunção.
With those two wins, there was no other choice but to give the former champ a title shot. It didn’t hurt that his former teammate, Cody Garbrandt, was the current title holder, which panned out to be a fantastic business decision as a solid rivalry had come to fruition between the former stablemates. TJ proved to be the better fighter by finishing Cody not once but twice back-to-back. This just added to the legacy of TJ and gave more proof that deserves to be at the top of the division.
While TJ was proving he mettle atop the bantamweight division, the weight class below him was being run by one of the pound-for-pound greatest fighters of all time, Demetrious Johnson. DJ broke the record for most title defended in UFC history with 11 straight, one coming against Henry Cejudo. DJ looked unstoppable and there were rumors going around about a super fight between him and Dillashaw, who wanted to go down in weight to become a double champ. It naturally drew plenty of excitement but the path to such a fight proved plenty harder than hoped. The biggest obstacle remaining, as it nearly always is, was money. But it was felt if the pair successfully defended their belts at UFC 227, it’d pave the way for a surefire fight.
TJ went on to defeat Garbrandt, but after losing to DJ in their first fight about a year and a half earlier, Henry Cejudo came out and stunned DJ. He should have never been as counted out in the fight as he was, but such was the level DJ had been fighting at. Cejudo would take the close split decision to get his hand raised and a hard-earned belt around his waist.
Following Cejudo’s and Dillashaw’s wins at UFC 227, there was a lot of speculation as to what was going to happen next for the champions. Was TJ finally gonna get his shot at the 125 pound belt? Or was Demitrious Johnson gonna get an immediate rematch?
Then a curve ball was thrown at the MMA community when the first ever cross promotion trade happened between ONE Championship and The Ultimate Fighting Championship. ONE traded undefeated welterweight Ben Askren for Demetrious Johnson. With Johnson out of the picture, it was announced that Cejudo’s first title defense would be against bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw in the main event of UFC 233. The fight was then moved Brooklyn for the first ever Fight Night on January 19 with the UFC’s new broadcasting partner ESPN.
Even though this fight is very exciting, there are some questions that come with it. Can TJ make weight? If he does, is he going to have the same speed and movement that he has at bantamweight? Hopefully, this fight goes on without a hitch and we can see two of the very best go at it with no excuses what so ever.
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