TJ DILLASHAW had his dislocated shoulder popped back in between rounds at UFC 280 – and then he carried on fighting.
The Californian, 36, took on Aljamain Sterling for the UFC Bantamweight title in Abu Dhabi tonight.
But during the first round of the bout, he suffered a horrific problem as his left shoulder came out of its socket.
Instead of throwing in the towel at the end of the round, Dillashaw soldiered on.
Coach Duane Ludwig frantically massaged the shoulder and got it back into place, as confirmed by a doctor inside the octogan – only for it to pop back out again in round two.
Sterling continued his flurry of punches in round two and secured a TKO and defend his belt.
Dillashaw – who previously had a brutal eye injury and then needed knee surgery last year – admitted afterwards he had come into the fight with an ongoing shoulder problem.
He said: “Yeah, it popped out right away.
“I have got to apologise to the weight class, I kind of held it up.
“I probably dislocated it 20 times in training camp.”
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UFC fans watching on were shocked by the graphic incident – with some lauding his bravery but others questioning how he managed to pass through the pre-fight medical checks.
One said: “Say what you want about TJ Dillashaw, but you can’t ever take away his heart and soul. Nasty shoulder injury but kept going.”
Another wrote: “TJ Dillashaw is a tough dude. I have tried to wrestle with a dislocated shoulder, itâs basically impossible. He survived a whole round with a killer while his shoulder was out.”
And a third added: “People will be talking about how tough TJ Dillashaw is instead of talking about how selfish he was to carry a serious shoulder injury for sixth months into a title shot that someone else could have had. What a waste of time and energy for all involved.”
