T.J. Dillashaw loves to get choked up.
Wait, that didn’t come out right. What we meant to say is the reigning UFC bantamweight champ loves to get his opponents in chokeholds. His title is on the line Saturday against Renan Barao on Saturday at the United Center; their first encounter produced what many MMA insiders say was Dillashaw’s best performance to date.
During an interview leading up to the fight, not only did Dillashaw demonstrate one of his favorite holds (see video), but he revealed which pain nags him most and discussed one of the UFC’s biggest stars in Ronda Rousey.
What do you expect to be different in the rematch, and what do you expect from Barao?
Obviously I expect a different game plan from him, trying to fix things that he saw that I did to him. But me and my coach have gone through and acted like I’m going to fight myself. What would I do to me to beat me? And expect that and counter it. Ultimately it comes down to just doing the same things, being the better athlete, being faster and just continuously putting that pressure on him and eventually break him again.
You train four to six hours a day, six days a week. Do you ever feel tired? Is it good to feel tired at the end of the day?
You go through cycles. I don’t do that year-round. There’s no way I’d be able to keep up; I’d break down and I’d be overworked and I’d end up getting sick or injured, and that’s a hard thing to understand. A lot of fighters try to push as hard as they possibly can. Your body’s going to give out. So you’ve got to listen to yourself, and when you’re feeling tired you gotta make sure you go a little lighter the next day and continue to peak your body to the right date.
Can you pinpoint the most pain you’ve felt during or after a fight?
During the fight you really don’t feel much; you’ve got so much adrenaline going. Luckily I’ve mostly been on the winning side, so I haven’t felt much pain inside the octagon. A groin shot, I’ve had a couple of those in a fight; those are never fun. After the fight, it’s always the bruises on my shin, on my hands from the striking I’m doing or checking a kick that you feel the next day. The ones that really hurt that you don’t really think about are the leg kicks. It’s just something you’ve got to get used to doing.
Do you ever feel bad about what you’ve done to an opponent?
Not really. For a good three months, that’s the goal in hand: to make sure you win the fight, and you want to finish it because you don’t want to leave it in the hands of the judges. Maybe when you watch it in the next couple of days you can think you’re a bit brutal on the finish, but when you’re inside the octagon and right after it happens, it’s the greatest feeling in the world. All the hard work you put into every day for the last three months, and the nerves you have going into that fight, it’s some of the highest highs, and when you lose it’s the lowest lows. You don’t want that low and so you’re overly excited about it.
The UFC is different from boxing in that you all have contracts. Is there a brotherhood among fighters in the UFC?
I feel it, yeah. Most of the guys I’ve come across in the UFC have always been really polite and are always friendly with each other. We all understand how hard it was to get where we’re at and how hard it is to stay there, so it’s a mutual respect for each other.
Are there people you just don’t get along with in the UFC?
No matter where you’re at, there are always guys you don’t get along with. If it’s any kind of job or any kind of situation in life, there’s always going to be someone that gets on your nerves, and it definitely is the case with some of the fighters.
Ronda Rousey is famous for her arm bar. Why do you think that has been such an effective submission hold for her, and why don’t we see more fighters using it?
It’s all on an individual basis, how well you pick something up. Everyone’s really good at something, and her niche was an arm bar. She fell in love with it, probably with her judo background, just found herself in those situations after she gets a hip toss and girls are leaving their arms out for her to take. She’s just gotten really good at it. You can try to defend it as much as you want, but it seems that once she grabs you, it’s over.
Wrestling and grappling are your specialties. Do you have any favorite holds?
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Usually I like to end the fight in a choke[hold]. Being a wrestler and with my camp, our guillotine chokes and our d’arce chokes are our favorite. I’m a big fan of the calf slicer, some moves that aren’t always done inside the octagon. The list is endless.
UFC Fight Night at United Center
5 p.m. Saturday, Fox
Chris Sosa is RedEye’s sports editor. @redeyesportschi
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