Duane Ludwig: New UFC owners must be Dominick Cruz fans for sure

TJ Dillashaw’s trainer Duane “Bang” Ludwig reacts to the Dominick Cruz vs Cody Garbrandt booking.

Reigning UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz will be defending his title for the second time against Cody Garbrandt at UFC 207 on December 30th. It is a fight that former champion TJ Dillashaw is not happy about at all.

“It’s a mockery – it’s a mockery of the sport. The sport should be about the best guys on the planet (fighting each other). What’s the point of having rankings (if they don’t factor into matchups)?” Dillashaw questioned.

After dropping the title to Cruz in January, Dillashaw faced Rafael Assunção at UFC 200, and won by unanimous decision. He now sits at the number one spot at the UFC’s official bantamweight rankings, but was passed over for his former teammate, who is at the number six spot.

Dillashaw and his team remain bothered about the making of the said fight. In a recent interview with BJPenn.com Radio, Dillashaw’s trainer Duane “Bang” Ludwig opened up about his feelings on the matter.

“We’re really bummed out because it basically just proves the fact that Cruz doesn’t want to fight TJ,” Ludwig said. “I mean TJ fought Raphael Assuncao, the number two ranked guy, and it wasn’t an easy fight, but he went through him pretty easily. He stuck to the game plan.”

“We beat the number two (ranked) guy, on paper we should have gotten the immediate rematch after the Cruz fight (given how close the fight was), but we go and beat the number two guy, we should have gotten the rematch (with Cruz), so now we’re asking to fight (John) Lineker who’s the number three guy to continue to prove the fact that TJ is a world champion.”

Many have been vocal about how the current rankings are usually set aside, and how a good number of fighters continuously get “undeserving” match-ups. But for Ludwig, it is more of a case of favoritism of the new management towards Cruz.

“I haven’t even met the new owner, Ari (Emmanuel), but he must be a Cruz fan for sure. I mean look at the fights they’re giving him. They must really love Cruz.”

TJ Dillashaw’s trainer Duane “Bang” Ludwig reacts to the Dominick Cruz vs Cody Garbrandt booking.

Reigning UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz will be defending his title for the second time against Cody Garbrandt at UFC 207 on December 30th. It is a fight that former champion TJ Dillashaw is not happy about at all.

“It’s a mockery – it’s a mockery of the sport. The sport should be about the best guys on the planet (fighting each other). What’s the point of having rankings (if they don’t factor into matchups)?” Dillashaw questioned.

After dropping the title to Cruz in January, Dillashaw faced Rafael Assunção at UFC 200, and won by unanimous decision. He now sits at the number one spot at the UFC’s official bantamweight rankings, but was passed over for his former teammate, who is at the number six spot.

Dillashaw and his team remain bothered about the making of the said fight. In a recent interview with BJPenn.com Radio, Dillashaw’s trainer Duane “Bang” Ludwig opened up about his feelings on the matter.

“We’re really bummed out because it basically just proves the fact that Cruz doesn’t want to fight TJ,” Ludwig said. “I mean TJ fought Raphael Assuncao, the number two ranked guy, and it wasn’t an easy fight, but he went through him pretty easily. He stuck to the game plan.”

“We beat the number two (ranked) guy, on paper we should have gotten the immediate rematch after the Cruz fight (given how close the fight was), but we go and beat the number two guy, we should have gotten the rematch (with Cruz), so now we’re asking to fight (John) Lineker who’s the number three guy to continue to prove the fact that TJ is a world champion.”

Many have been vocal about how the current rankings are usually set aside, and how a good number of fighters continuously get “undeserving” match-ups. But for Ludwig, it is more of a case of favoritism of the new management towards Cruz.

“I haven’t even met the new owner, Ari (Emmanuel), but he must be a Cruz fan for sure. I mean look at the fights they’re giving him. They must really love Cruz.”