He started off wrestling right Like most of these guys did. His dad just threw him in to it when he was 8. Can you imagin bein 8 and your dad’s like “Yeah you’re gonna wrestle.” But it paid off. He was good real good. Ended up in college wrestled Greco-Roman all that jazz. And then his coach Mark Muñoz who was in the UFC back then kinda nudged him towards MMA. And that’s it he’s hooked.
So TJ starts training with Muñoz then jumps over to Team Alpha Male right under Urijah Faber’s wing. Everyone there Mendes Benavidez they all saw somethin in him. He was fast. His first pro fight amateur whatever it was he was still figurin out the striking. He missed alot but his wrestling saved him. Dude just held onto that decision for 15 minutes. Pure grind you could see the makings of that split-stance attack even then those weird explosive combinations. He was always a bit… different. Not like a standard boxer. He’d kinda skip throw something weird then disappear. People didn’t no what to do with that.
He went on TUF remember that The Ultimate Fighter. And he got picked third after Dodson and Gaden. He was doin his thing looking solid but then he ran into Dodson in the finals. And honestly Dodson was just to quick too sharp that night. TJ couldn’t keep up got clipped and that was it. Dodson was the first TUF champion at bantamweight that loss man it hit him hard. Threw him way back in the rankings from like 38th to 65th. But you know what He came back twice that year just went out there and started running through guys. Superman punches ground and pound just relentless pressure. He was buildin this crazy win streak clawing his way back up. It felt like he was always a step a head always figurin out a new way to screw with people’s timing.
Okay so he’s got this win streak going people are startin to notice him. And then they throw him in there with Renan Barao. Barao at the time was like the bantamweight. He hadn’t lost in 33 fights! Thirty-three! He was a monster everyone thought this dude was unstoppable. And TJ he comes in as a massive underdog. No one I mean no one really thought he had a chance outside of his actual family and his teammates.
But then the fight starts. And TJ he just looks so relaxed. Bouncin around hitting slippin not givin Barao an inch. He was just dissecting him. Round one he drops Barao. And Barao survives barely. But you could just tell right there it was over. The champion was broken. TJ kept pickin him apart those weird foot feints that crazy movement. He connected with that head kick – boom! Barao was done just gettin battered on the ground. It was one of the craziest upsets ever. Even Faber his coach at the time said everything was perfect like slow motion. He saw every movement. Crazy to think he could experience that.
Then of course the drama started. The whole Alpha Male split TJ leaving for Colorado with Duane Ludwig. Man that was a mess Faber was pissed everyone was talking about it. It made TJ look like the bad guy leavin the team that brought him up. But you gotta admit the dude just kept winnin. He ran through Soto in the first defense (Barao pulled out of the rematch classic fight week chaos) then just absolutely dismantled Barao in the actual rematch. No doubt who the king was. It was almost like he was playing with him.
He was at the top but then Dominic Cruz came back. Dude was injured for like two years comes back and fights TJ. That fight… man that was a clinic in unique footwork. Both of them were just dancin. Cruz got the split decision and it was close as hell. TJ was pissed obviously. But then Cruz went on to beat Faber again just rubbin salt in the wound.
But TJ didn’t sit around. He fought Assunção avenged his loss. Then he fought John Lineker who was a tough dude. And then… Cody Garbrandt. That was the one everyone wanted to see. Cody was at Alpha Male and they had history. It was personal. First fight Cody drops him almost finishes him but TJ somehow recovers comes back and knocks Cody out with a head kick. Pure insanity. Then they run it back and TJ just does it again even quicker this time. Sets the division record for early finishes. Absolute beast.
Here’s the thing though. You always hear about these guys cuttin weight it’s brutal right But TJ was always one of those guys who looked like he was dying just makin bantamweight. So when he decided to drop another division to flyweight to fight Henry Cejudo for a second belt… man everyone knew that was risky. He looked like a skeleton at weigh-ins. And then in the fight Cejudo just blasted him knocked him out in like 30 seconds. And TJ was complainin about the stoppage but honestly he was gone.
Then came the hammer. USADA. Two-year ban for EPO. He admitted it. Said he did it to gain an edge that he was desperate. That just… sucks man. Like all that hard work all those crazy fights and then that. He vacated the belt. Suddenly the guy who ruled the division was just gone.
He comes back after two and a half years. Fights Cory Sandhagen and man that fight was insane. TJ looks a little rusty but he’s fightin smart. Then he tears his knee! Like early in the fight. But he keeps going. Sandhagen is landin TJ’s still tryin to grapple still active. It was one of those fights where you couldn’t tell who won. Judges gave it to TJ split decision. People were pissed but he pulled it off. Just showed his grit.
Then he gets the title shot against Aljamain Sterling. Dude was 36 after all that. He was older for bantamweight standard. And in that fight against Sterling… you could just tell somethin was wrong. His shoulder was just messed up. He kept tryin to pop it back in. Sterling just dominated him. He just couldn’t fight. It was a sad end man seein him like that. He just never really recovered it seems like.
It’s wild to think about his career. The highs the lows the absolute dominance the controversial parts. He really helped make bantamweight one of the best divisions in the UFC for years. Total chaos but definitely never borin.