T.J. Dillashaw could certainly do worse than starting his road to redemption by beating Jose Aldo.

Two-time bantamweight champion Dillashaw is serving a two-year suspension for taking a banned substance around the time he dropped the belt to Henry Cejudo.

Dillashaw has openly admitted his error and still has time left to stew on his mistake given his ban runs until January 2021.

But the American has spoken of his desire to make amends and once again have an opportunity to reign at bantamweight, a division Aldo now fights in having been one of the kings of the featherweights for so long.

In the final edition of our UFC dream fights we would love to see series, we analyse the histories of Dillashaw and Aldo in the Octagon.


WHY DO WE WANT TO SEE THIS FIGHT?

Dillashaw, who stated as long ago as 2014 that he would love to mix it with Aldo in the Octagon, has a long road ahead of him to win back his detractors.

Going up against Aldo, a great of the MMA game, would be a good place to start given the Brazilian is 0-1 at bantamweight having lost to Marlon Moraes in December.

The legendary Aldo was booked to fight Cejudo for the belt in May at UFC 250 but with uncertainty still surrounding when bouts can take place due to the coronavirus pandemic, the return of Dillashaw looms over the division.


GREATEST ACHIEVEMENTS

Dillashaw was thrust into the limelight when he scored an upset win over Renan Barao way back in May 2014, making two successful defences before dropping the belt to Dominick Cruz.

Just under two years later, Dillashaw knocked out Cody Garbrandt – the two former camp mates having engaged in an ugly build-up – to reclaim the strap. He was controversially stopped after just 32 seconds in his fight against Cejudo in January 2019 to lose the title again.

Aldo is one of the best to ever fight at featherweight and is the company's first recognised champion in the division having held the belt in WEC prior to its merger with UFC.

It was a belt he would be in possession of until his infamous 13-second defeat to Conor McGregor, the likes of Urijah Faber, Chad Mendes (twice) and Frankie Edgar among the list of names he had beaten.

Aldo overcame Edgar for a second time to be recognised as interim champion and became full champion again after McGregor vacated the title. However, he then lost twice to Max Holloway.


WHAT'S THEIR MMA RECORD (W-L-D)?

Dillashaw: 17-4-0

Aldo: 28-6-0


TALE OF THE TAPE

Dillashaw:

Age: 34
Height: 5'6" (167cm)
Weight: 135lbs (61kg)
Reach: 67"
Leg Reach: 38"

Aldo:

Age: 33
Height: 5'7" (170cm)
Weight: 145lbs (65kg)
Reach: 70"
Leg Reach: 40"


WHAT THEY'VE SAID ABOUT A POTENTIAL FIGHT

"It's hard to hold grudges, because I did it," Dillashaw said. "I made the mistake. I dirtied my name myself. It's not on anybody else. I gave them fuel. It hurts, but that's part of the payment – part of the payment for how I dirtied my name up. I've got to live with it now. Trying to hold onto those grudges, that's like holding onto the past. I've already moved on. I'm ready to push for that next goal and getting my belt back," Dillashaw, speaking to MMA Junkie this month, is focused on big targets upon his return.

"That's something I always told everybody in the gym and my friends, to never choose fights. Doesn't matter if it's the number one or the last in the ranking, you have to fight because you never know about tomorrow. If you're a champion, you'll be a champion by fighting the first or the last in the ranking," Aldo told MMA Fighting he is always willing to take on all comers.


FIGHT STATS IN UFC

Dillashaw:

- Dillashaw has a significant strike accuracy of 41 per cent, having landed with 1005 of 2438 such attempts.

- Of the 56 takedowns he has attempted, Dillashaw has landed 21 for a success rate of 38 per cent.

- He lands 5.37 significant strikes per minute and absorbs 3.03.

- In terms of defense, Dillashaw has seen off 66 per cent of significant strikes and guarded against 86 per cent of takedown attempts.

Aldo:

- From the 2391 significant strikes Aldo has attempted, he has connected with 1056 - a success rate of 44 per cent.

- Aldo has landed 12 of 20 takedowns (a 65 per cent success rate).

- He lands 3.47 significant strikes per minute and absorbs 3.18.

- Aldo has seen off 65 per cent of significant strikes against him and impressively guarded against 92 per cent of take downs.