Henry Cejudo's Coach Believes Ref Stoppage Only Saved Dillashaw From Additional Punishment

Henry Cejudo surprised many with his 32-second TKO of T.J. Dillashaw last Saturday, and much of the conversation in the aftermath has centered on whether the stoppage was premature.

Many fans believed Dillashaw’s stand up and his unorthodox movement would prove to be too much for Cejudo, but it was “The Messenger” who lit up his opponent early which dropped the Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight champ. Cejudo landed a number of unanswered shots before the referee intervened with Cejudo now holding back-to-back wins over Demetrious Johnson and Dillashaw.

A frustrated Dillashaw told UFC commentator Jon Anik in the post-fight interview inside the Octagon that he was annoyed at how quickly the referee stopped the fight.

Cejudo’s head coach, Eric Albarracin, was a guest on the recent edition of “The MMA Hour” and said that Dillashaw was lucky that referee Kevin MacDonald stepped in to prevent even more damage being done (h/t MMA Fighting) for transcription:

“Obviously anything could’ve went a little bit longer, but I think the result might’ve been the same, would’ve been the same, probably just more damage on him” Albarricin said. “Henry was hurting him. He hit him with the kick, the head kick. He hit him with the left. I think one behind the ear, he got a straight right over the ear. And there’s a YouTube that’s called ‘What Really Happened With T.J. Dillashaw vs. Henry Cejudo,’ and they break it down perfectly, how many shots he took and how he wasn’t defending himself intelligently, how the wrong hand was up, Henry was over here but he was looking over here. So, he explains it perfectly and I’d rather have — that’s probably the best video for us to watch, because he breaks it down blow-by-blow.”