Dominick Cruz appeared on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani (Warning: NSFW language) and he may have broken the show’s record for most soundbites delivered in a single segment. A late addition to the lineup of guests, the former WEC and UFC bantamweight champ cut promos on anyone and anything that was put in front of him.
Here’s a lineup of interesting quotes:
- On comparisons made between him and TJ Dillashaw: “I see absolutely no similarities between my fighting style and TJ Dillashaw‘s. And the reason I say that is we do different things. He’s switching stances and I’m not. I’m doing something totally different that nobody understands…Now, my style is being appreciated. When I go out there, people will see TJ Dillashaw is nothing but a wannabe.”
- On Urijah Faber: “I cleaned out the division four years ago. Completely cleaned it out, and it hasn’t changed…Urijah Faber could have the title right now, but he’s too scared to fight TJ and get beat by him, so he’s just going to stay in that miscellaneous floating area.”
- On return: “I’m looking to be back by the new year. That’s my goal. Either that first new year card or the one before it.”
- On the bantamweight title: “Nobody believes he (Dillashaw) is champion right now. I mean, they think he’s good. But they don’t believe he’s champion, and that’s why they couldn’t sell the fight in Chicago.” He continued, “He hasn’t fought anybody to be a champion. Dillashaw still needs to fight somebody as good as me to even believe in himself. He has no clue what he’s facing.”
- On Dillashaw‘s coach, Duane Ludwig: “Duane Ludwig could learn something from me. I could be Duane Ludwig’s coach.”
Cruz’s history of injuries is one of MMA’s most tragic tales. With a 20-1 record and wins over a who’s who of the top 135-pound talent of the time, the Dominator ranked among the pound-for-pound best fighters in MMA for years. However, a knee injury sustained on the set of The Ultimate Fighter season 15 forced him out of a lucrative rubber match with longtime rival Urijah Faber, and complications during his recovery wound up shelving him for years.
When he tore his groin muscle ahead of a title unification bout opposite Renan Barao at UFC 169, the UFC opted to strip him of the title. He would finally return at UFC 178, scoring a devastating knockout over Takeya Mizugaki, but would once again find himself out of action, this time due to a torn ACL in his right knee.
As Dillashaw continues building up his resume as one of MMA’s top pound-for-pound fighters, a bout with Cruz has become more and more compelling for hardcore fight fans. It also makes more than a little sense on paper, with Faber coming off a loss to Frankie Edgar and fellow contender Raphael Assuncao also injured.
If the UFC wants to make Dillashaw vs. Cruz a reality, the most likely landing spots would be UFC on Fox 17 (set for December 19) or the likely pay-per-view event on January 2 or January 9.
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