My full thoughts? The multiple TJ revelations hurt, not gonna lie.
I didn't despise TAM, but wasn't really a fan of Faber, and Duane was pretty cool in my book. The Dodson stoppage was really clearly early, but quickly became one of the more forgotten controversies over time. But I always remembered that Herb stopped it cuz TJ got pushed to the ground while wobbled. Then in the Barao build, I had noted just how much TJ was progressing fight to fight, even in that Assuncao robbery. I still didn't think he was gonna beat Barao, but I was defending how well he would do. And then I felt people were unfairly shitting on him for some joke training videos taken out of context.
That Barao performance wasn't the best performance I've ever seen or the biggest upset I've ever seen, but in the Venn diagram of the two, it's far and away my favorite example of both. Watching all their work and that build turn into a complete wall to wall shellacking, TJ pulling angles and putting it on Barao from every direction, then to see victory and watch them all embrace, even after the TAM-Bang split, could really put chills into any fan invested in the match. It's still a cool MMA to relive.
Then the split became more furious and accusations were lobbied back and forth. Cue the worst villain of all time in pure douchery amassed in human form, Cody Garbrandt, and it was hard to side against TJ. The first claims came out here of TJ juicing, but like the true idiot Cody is, he threw the label at TJ out of one side of his mouth while basically suggesting all of TAM was juicing out the other. Also there was the accusation that TJ ended the career of a training partner, but the guy didn't want to speak up at the time, so it wasn't holding much weight. Add in Faber as the coach just sounding more and more bitchy about the split and looking completely at fault for it, and TJ was still coming out of the argument looking clean, and that back to back KO was another shining accomplishment. Then when Cody left Tam and Justin's complaints came up, almost the same exact way it happened with TJ, it only made TAM look more wrong and TJ-Bang look more right.
And then.. And then Holdsworth came out and basically admitted everything about TJ was true. TJ did end his career and there were videos showing how rough his sparring went, and how sometimes he really crossed the line of gym etiquette with his cheap shots. And the steroid accusations get repeated too. And then TJ gets caught blatantly cheating, and the accusations start to cover his whole career because of how long they've been made, and they go all the way back to even his 'miraculous' improvements he was making between every fight before Barao. Everything said about TJ that wasn't said through the mouthpiece of a complete moron had daylight shone upon it.
Frankly, I know this isn't realistic, because if it was, everyone would come up with as many bullshit excuses as they could against USADA, but if someone is caught cheating, and you can absolutely prove their intent? Should be a ban for life. TJ is included in that thinking. His performances inside the cage are a fantastic example of someone not only great, but fun to watch. However, that "great" carries a huge question mark now. Since he served his suspension, and testing is supposed to be better, I can only shrug my shoulders and assume that the TJ of old might return and could likely be the top of the heap if he stays clean. And his fights will be worth watching. But I'll always hope he doesn't find success each time he steps out there. Amazing how much his potential performances I could find simultaneously incredible and disappointing.
tl;dr?
