UFC 280: Aljamain Sterling takes advantage of T.J. Dillashaw injury in successful title defense

As Saturday’s UFC bantamweight championship bout began, Aljamain Sterling didn’t know he was about to dislocate T.J. Dillashaw’s left shoulder with his first takedown, changing the course of their fight before it really got going.

Dillashaw, however, knew it was a likelihood.

Uniondale’s Sterling (22-3) stayed aggressive and finished the job after Dillashaw (17-5) reaggravated a shoulder injury in the first minute of their co-main event at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi, defending his UFC bantamweight belt with a TKO victory at 3:44 of the second round.

Sterling said he wasn’t aware of Dillashaw’s injury until his cornermen informed him between rounds.

“The guys actually pointed it out to me, and I had to ask them, 'which one?'” Sterling said. “I had no idea, I was just in the zone.”

After the bout, Dillashaw revealed he “completely blew his shoulder out” in April and claimed to have suffered about 20 dislocations on the shoulder during his fight camp.

“I told the ref in the back before we came out that ‘most likely, my shoulder was going to pop out, if it does I’ll get it back in, please do not stop it,’” Dillashaw said. “Unfortunately in the second round, I couldn’t push up off my shoulder, so hats off to Aljamain for doing what he does.”

Sterling’s victory was his eighth consecutive win, a UFC bantamweight record. He is just the third 135-pounder to successfully defend the UFC title twice, joining Dillashaw and Dominick Cruz.

The LIer waited just 18 seconds before going for his first takedown, quickly getting atop Dillashaw, who immediately winced from the injury. Sterling patiently advanced his position as Dillashaw tried to deal with the pain, taking full mounted position and pouring down punches. With Dillashaw still looking uncomfortable, Sterling took his opponent’s back and landed even more strikes, continuing to dominate the round and scoring another takedown late.

As the first round closed, referee Marc Goddard demanded to see Dillashaw’s shoulder for a possible fight-ending injury, but some work from Dillashaw’s corner remedied the issue enough for the former champion to continue.

Yet when the fight resumed, Sterling clearly knew where Dillashaw was weak, throwing kicks at the weak shoulder while working more takedowns. A throw into a submission attempt seemed to worsen the injury, and soon after the fight found its way back the canvas.

Goddard mercifully ended the fight for Dillashaw, who ended his night face down with Sterling straddling his back and landing several more closing blows.

"I knew he could get out and he could get back on top and do damage,” Sterling said. “That's what he does in a lot of his past fights. So, I made sure I kept the pressure on and do what I needed to do.”

NOTES: Amityville’s Katlyn Chookagian dropped a unanimous decision (29-28 x3) to French flyweight Manon Fiorot to kick off the pay-per-view portion of Saturday’s event. Chookagian, the No. 1 contender in the division, lost for the first time since October 2020, ending a four-fight win streak….In the main event, Islam Makhachev claimed the UFC lightweight title, defeating Charles Oliveira at 3:16 of the second round with a head and arm choke.

By Ryan Gerbosi

ryan.gerbosi@newsday.comRyanGerbosi

Ryan Gerbosi is an internet news manager for sports at Newsday.com. He also covers NYCFC and mixed martial arts and believes the designated hitter should be banned from baseball.