Former champion TJ Dillashaw shares graphic post-surgery photo

TJ Dillashaw posts picture of his shoulder surgery to kick off his two year USADA suspension.

TJ Dillashaw will be sitting out from the UFC for two years, and in that time he is doing some much-needed healing. Dillashaw tested positive for a banned substance stemming from his last outing against Henry Cejudo at UFC Brooklyn. As a result of that positive test, Dillashaw was suspended two years from the date of the test. Dillashaw relinquished his bantamweight title and posted an apology to fans on social media. In the break from fighting Dillashaw plans of getting some surgeries done on lingering injuries. The first was a shoulder surgery which he announced with a photo on Instagram.

“Battle scars added to my hawk,” Dillashaw wrote. “Surgery went well, torn rotator cuff, labrum, and some biceps tendon repair. Two months from now I’m getting my left shoulder done, it’s the worst of the two. The recovery time is long and sucks but it will be nice to have them finally fixed. Been needing these surgeries for three years now.”

In the statement released by Dillashaw, he took full responsibility for the positive drug test. Without objection, he will serve the entire two-year suspension, the basic punishment for a first-time offense.

Dillashaw came to the UFC in 2011 as part if The Ultimate Fighter season 14. In May of 2014, Dillashaw became UFC champ when he defeated Renan Barao at UFC on Fox 16. Since his UFC debut, Dillashaw was averaging two fights a year with three fights in 2014 and 2016. This suspension will be the largest chunk of time away from the sport for the 33 years old.

Dillashaw will be able to return to action in January of 2021, at the age of 34. Dillashaw must remain in the U.S Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) testing pool throughout his suspension.