UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz couldn’t resist taking a few more shots at UFC 199 opponent Urijah Faber.
Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber don’t like each other. This isn’t exactly breaking news. Ever since their first fight in 2007, the two men have jawed back and forth and generally been miserable to each other. A 2011 fight that Cruz won (Faber won the first bout) did nothing to dampen the rivalry, and their third bout has been on hold for almost four years.
Well, now it’s here – the bout will go down as the co-main event of UFC 199 in June. So naturally, the two men are ramping up their talk. It started at the Unstoppable press conference where Faber said Cruz was “skinny fat”, while Cruz said Faber was dressed like former champion T.J. Dillashaw’s grandfather. Yeah, gripping stuff. Well, it was Cruz’s turn again at the EA Sports UFC launch party recently. Here’s what he had to say (via MMA Fighting):
“With Faber, it’s like, it’s bigger than me and it’s bigger than his goofy self,” Cruz said. “It’s more about the fans. I’ve had so many questions about that fight over the years even — ‘When are you gonna shut Faber up?'”
…
“He’s been in the sport so long, he’s got some backing,” Cruz said. “People believe in him. I feel like for his fans, I have to give them a chance. Listen, Faber fans. I’ll give you a chance, one more chance to try to bask in some sort of glory. He’s not going to do it for you, so I’ll give you the chance for him.”
He also thinks Faber hasn’t gotten worse, but he hasn’t gotten any better either while the sport has changed around him:
“I don’t think he’s regressed,” Cruz said. “I don’t. I don’t think he’s gotten worse. I think that he’s the stayed the same and the game has progressed. That’s the difference. I think Faber is uncoachable. I think that anytime somebody goes in there to coach him, he ends up kicking them out, because he has to be the alpha. I think that’s been the downfall of his career.”
He also didn’t think Faber deserved a title shot, but he just wants all the talk to go away so he accepted:
“I’m tired of hearing about it,” Cruz said. “Let me put all the questions to rest, all the talk to rest. I don’t mind, because I fight anyways. This is what I do. I’m gonna fight anyway.”
UFC 199 goes down June 4th in Inglewood, CA.