Excerpt from a YouTube interview (Gary Brecka with TJ Dillashaw) focusing on what was 'missing' in Dillashaw's development — he reflects that different choices (e.g., staying in wrestling, different training approach) might have improved his career. He describes training six to seven days a week in his 20s, feeling burned out, frequently injured, and unaware that he was overworking himself despite becoming a world champion.
What was missing. Do you think that would have changed the trajectory of your career when you made your comeback?
100%. It would have changed. It could have been even better in my mind, if I could have become, you know, a national champion, All American. And maybe I stick with wrestling, which I'm so glad I was meant to become a fighter. Just my mentality, so that could have happened. But even the way that I was training in my 20s, I became a world champion training this way. But I was burning the candle at both ends. I was training six, seven days a week, as hard as I possibly can, two or three days. And growing up as a wrestler, you're always taught just to outwork your opponent. Just do it harder, do it more, do it better. Which leads to being over overworked. And I had no idea what being overworked was. I was either really injured or I felt like I was out of shape. And I was like, how is that possible? I've trained so hard, doing all the right things.
