Juan Archuleta says T.J. Dillashaw will return better than ever after suspension, shoulder surgery

T.J. Dillashaw’s return from a USADA suspension will see the former UFC bantamweight champion step into the octagon looking better than ever.

That’s the view of Bellator bantamweight title challenger Juan Archuleta, who has seen the difference in his training partner during their sessions together at the Ultimate Training Center in Huntington Beach, California.

Archuleta (24-2 MMA, 6-1 BMMA) is set for action against Patchy Mix as the pair get set to battle for the vacant bantamweight title at Bellator 246 on Sept. 12 in Uncasville, but he said he thinks the UFC’s 135-pound belt could soon be returning to the gym when Dillashaw (16-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) returns to action early in 2021.

“T.J.’s doing well, man,” he told TMZ Sports. “He’s getting big, strong recovering from his double surgery, the shoulder surgeries, that he had. Of course, his suspension is coming to an end so we’re getting him ready so that when his suspension is lifted he’s gonna be ready to be in the title mix.”

Dillashaw’s two-year anti-doping suspension comes to an end at the turn of the year, and Archuleta said the enforced time away from the cage has given his teammate the opportunity to rest up and heal after undergoing double shoulder surgery prior to his loss to Henry Cejudo in January 2019. Archuleta also revealed the extent of Dillashaw’s shoulder issues, which frequently saw the former UFC champion dislocate his shoulder during training.

“I honestly think he’ll be a lot better,” he suggested. “You get that time off and you get to rest the brain, rest the body, and that guy’s always ‘pedal to the metal.’ So he gets to recover his whole body. People don’t know he was dealing with two shoulder surgeries going into that fight. Every other practice, I swear to you, man, we’d be wrestling or scrapping and his shoulder would just pop out!”