Former Champ TJ Dillashaw To Return Against Cory Sandhagen In May 8th UFC Main Event

The return of former UFC Bantamweight Champion TJ Dillashaw is now set, as he will face Cory Sandhasgen in a May 8th main event bout. News of the bout was first reported by Brett Okamoto of ESPN.

The fight joins a card that does not have a location confirmed for it currently.

Dillashaw has been out of action since a USADA drug test gave him a two-year suspension in 2019. The suspension forced him to relinquish his bantamweight belt, which he had earned two years prior.

Dillashaw earned UFC’s 135-pound belt in November of 2017, stopping Cody Garbrandt in the second round of a fight. He defended it once, fighting in a rematch the next year which resulted in an even quicker finish for Dillashaw.

Dillashaw’s last fight was in early 2019, where he lost a title fight to UFC Flyweight Champion Henry Cejudo, who stopped him in only 32 seconds with strikes. The win denied Dillashaw the chance to become one of the few fighters to hold two belts at once in UFC history.

He now fights Sandhagen, a rising bantamweight that is arguably one of the few who has the best shot at a title fight currently. Sandhagen has strung together a record of seven wins and one loss since entering the UFC in 2018.

His sole loss was a bout in June, where Aljamain Sterling submitted him within a round with a rear naked choke. He has since bounced back, defeating Marlon Moraes in a main event fight and knocking out veteran Frankie Edgar with a flying knee.

UFC’s May 8th card now has nine bouts in total with a title fight in the lineup as well. Here is how the show looks in total now.

Bout 9: Cory Sandhagen (14-2) vs. TJ Dillashaw (16-4) (Bantamweight)

Bout 8: Donald Cerrone (36-15) vs. Diego Sanchez (30-13) (Welterweight)

Bout 7: Ryan Benoit (10-7) vs. Zarrukh Adashev (3-3) (Flyweight)

Bout 6: Holly Holm (14-5) vs. Julianna Pena (10-4) (Bantamweight)

Bout 5: Marcos Rogerio de Lima (17-7-1) vs. Maurice Greene (9-5) (Heavyweight)

Bout 4: Christian Aguilera (14-7) vs. Carlston Harris (15-4) (Welterweight)

Bout 3: Jimmy Flick (16-5) vs. Francisco Figueiredo (12-3-1) (Flyweight)

Bout 2: Roxanne Modafferi (25-18) vs. Taila Santos (17-1) (Flyweight)

Bout 1: Nikolas Motta (12-3) vs. Damir Hadzovic (13-6) (Lightweight)