BOSTON – It’s bad enough losing a fight. It’s even worse when the sport’s biggest prize is on the line. But it’s a downright travesty when you feel like you actually deserved the victory.

Welcome to the world of T.J. Dillashaw, now a former UFC bantamweight champion.

Dillashaw (12-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) entered Sunday’s FOX Sports 1-televised UFC Fight Night 81 headliner at Boston’s TD Garden as the No. 1-ranked fighter in the MMAjunkie/USA TODAY Sports MMA bantamweight rankings (and No. 3 pound-for-pound). But after a series of injuries limited him to one bout in the past four years, former UFC and WEC titleholder Dominick Cruz (21-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) edged Dillashaw via split decision to reclaim the belt.

It marked just the second time in UFC history that a challenger has won a belt via split decision, and the official scorecards (48-47, 46-49 and 49-46) were all over the place for the closely contested bout (watch the Cruz vs. Dillashaw video highlights). The media scores were also far from unanimous; according to MMADecisions.com, 12 outlets scored the fight for Cruz, 10 scored it for Dillashaw, and one scored it a draw. (MMAjunkie had it 48-47 for Dillashaw after awarding him Rounds 1, 4 and 5.)

After the fight, Dillashaw admitted it was a close fight but said he felt he deserved the victory.

“Dominick’s a very good fighter,” Dillashaw said before a brief pause. “I do feel like I won the fight – just pressure alone, controlling the octagon and landing the bigger strikes. I know he got a few takedowns that I don’t really feel like should be scored that great with three seconds of control total.”

During that post-fight press conference, Dillashaw referenced Cruz’s takedowns on a couple occasions. He knew they probably swayed some judges, but he felt his performance would overcome them.

“I’m making him miss and hitting him again – and just knowing he didn’t have anything on his punches,” he said. “I felt like whatever he was going to give me wasn’t very dangerous. I feel like I was coming forward and that’s how I was going to win the fight – just being the more dominant fighter and coming forward and hitting him with those big shots and landing those kicks.

” … It’s a tough, man. It’s a tough one to take.”

Dillashaw won the title in 2014 from Renan Barao, who picked up an interim title and was later promoted to the primary champ following Cruz’s injuries. Dillashaw made two title defenses, and with a win over Cruz, he could have silenced the critics who argued he wasn’t the “real” champ because he never defeated the man who technically never lost the belt.

Dillashaw thought he had done all that – right up until the point Bruce Buffer announced the other guy had won. It still stings for the ex-champ.

“I definitely feel like I won that fight,” Dillashaw said. “I mean, I was pushing forward, being the aggressor, landing the bigger shots. I just don’t understand how you can’t score it (for me) for that.”

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 81, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.