Demetrious Johnson comments on Dillashaw’s EPO use

For a time, there was much discussion about a potential flyweight title super fight between TJ Dillashaw and Demetrious Johnson, then the UFC bantamweight and flyweight champions respectively.

At the time of these discussions, Johnson expressed some doubt that TJ Dillashaw would be able to make the 125-pound limit for their potential flyweight title fight. Dillashaw later made 125 pounds for a January title fight with Henry Cejudo, but subsequently tested positive for EPO, and named his tough weight cut as one of the reasons he turned to this substance.

Given the way things shook out, you might expect Demetrious Johnson to have some less than savory comments about his would-be rival. Not so.

“Obviously, it is what it is,” a classy Johnson said on Submission Radio (transcript via MMA News). “He got caught using a banned substance, which I was totally thrown off by it, and it’s a shame. But at the end of the day, it’s mixed martial arts.

“He’ll serve his time, two to three years of USADA. He’ll come back, compete, make money, and life will go on as usual.”

Demetrious Johnson also reminded that this isn’t the first time one of his rivals has tested positive for EPI.

“That’s not the first time. I fought Ali Bagautinov, and he tested positive for EPO,” Johnson said. “So I’ve already been in that boat before. And when I found out about it, I was playing video games. And I said, ‘Ariel Helwani, I’m busy right now. This is not important.’”

Needless to say, Demetrious Johnson isn’t dwelling on this incident.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 7/1/2019.