This week, Michael Hutchinson looks at Dominick Cruz, recapping his career and breaking down his style.
This week’s featured fighter is one of the most interesting fighters around. Dominick Cruz is the former UFC Bantamweight Champion and will look to reclaim the title he never lost on Sunday. Cruz’s career has been a roller-coaster filled with the biggest highs and the loneliest lows. I want to begin by talking about his history.
History of “The Dominator”
Cruz was born in Tuscone, Arizona and was raised by a single mom. He was an avid soccer fan, which isn’t unheard of in MMA, Kenny Florian and Jose Aldo being prime examples. He was looking for soccer tryouts and stumbled onto his school’s wrestling team.
He took up wrestling until highschool where he fell off the tracks. Cruz started partying hard, getting into fights and was eventually kicked out of his house. After highschool he straightened out and started dabbling in other forms of combat like kickboxing and boxing, eventually getting into MMA.
Cruz quickly went 7-0, even without a real fight camp or coach. Cruz was then thrown to the wolves in his next fight. He took on Urijah Faber for the WEC Featherweight Championship. He lost the fight by first round submission. After that he decided to train full time at Alliance, a camp he trained with part-time leading up to the Faber fight.
Cruz made huge leaps in his abilities. He moved down to Bantamweight and looked spectacular in fights against Ian McCall and Joseph Benavidez. At 24 years old, Cruz won the WEC Bantamweight Championship against Brian Bowles.
The fight is super interesting to watch back because it’s very similar to Dillashaw’s fights with Barao. Bowles was a fast fighter with knockout power, but Cruz just ran circles around him, changing angles and avoiding the hard shots, hitting Bowles with hard kicks disguised by his punches. Dillashaw did the same with Barao. (FightPass link to Bowles vs. Cruz)
After this Cruz went on to defend his belt against Benavidez and against Scott Jogensen. His fight against Jorgensen was to decide who would become the UFC Bantamweight Champion once the WEC merged with the UFC.
Cruz’s first UFC fight was against his old buddy Urijah Faber, this time though, it was for a UFC Championship. The two went back and forth verbally in the lead up to the fight. Cruz won the fight by unanimous decision, cementing himself as the UFC Bantamweight Champion.
His next fight was against Demetrious Johnson. Cruz won by unanimous decision in what would be his final title defense. The fight against Mighty Mouse was very interesting though, but we’ll get back to that later.
Cruz was set up for a third fight with Urijah Faber, but had to pull out due to a torn ACL. Things got messy when his body rejected the cadaver, prompting another ACL surgery. After sitting on the sidelines for over two years, title still in hand, Cruz was set to make his return against interim champion Renan Barao.
A month before the fight, Cruz tore his groin and had to pull out. Cruz was also stripped of the UFC Bantamweight Championship.
After three years away from cage, Cruz made a triumphant return at UFC 178 where he scorched Top 5 Bantamweight Takeya Mizugaki. It’s one of the greatest career comeback fights in UFC history and is awe inspiring.
Unfortunately, another injury sidelined Cruz, this time an ACL tear in his other knee. This injury took him out of fighting for 2015. In an emotional interview the MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani, Cruz talked about the injury and his recovery (4:50).
Luckily for Cruz the injuries didn’t deter the UFC from giving him a title shot. T.J. Dillashaw vs. Dominck Cruz takes place this Sunday on FS1.
Brief Overlook of Cruz’s Fighting Style
Now that the history lesson is finished, let’s get into what makes Dominick Cruz such a special fighter. I’m not a fight analyst, so this isn’t my area of expertise. People like our own Connor Ruebusch of Heavy Hands Podcast, guys like Jack Slack and BJJ Scout know this stuff better than I do. Their own pieces of analysis will be included in the links at the end of the article.
There’s been a recent focus on flowy fighters, and Cruz is as flowy as it gets. Cruz is unlike other fighters who like to brag about their power. Cruz brags about his ability to not get hit. He does this by focusing on foot positioning. When talking to Luke Thomas of MMAFighting.com, Cruz mentioned how everything starts at the feet. That’s where your power, your timing and your movement is set up from.
“…the first step taken has to be with your foot. It has to be a movement with your steps, where you move your feet. It has nothing to do with what your arms do, your hands, your head, nothing. It’s all about where your feet go to set you up for punches, kicks, everything else.” – Dominick Cruz (Technique Talk)
Cruz also talked about the 6 to 10 different patterns that he follows, each useful in different situations against different fighters. This is why Cruz has been so dominant when he has fought. His ability to get in and get out, change his pattern and remain unpredictable is, to quote Joe Rogan, world-class!
I do have one knock on Cruz. In his fight with Faber, he got knocked down several times. These weren’t hard shots, but they happened when Cruz was switching stances. Cruz’s style is effective, but makes him more susceptible to getting knocked down.
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He also admitted in the Luke Thomas interview that Mighty Mouse got the better of him in the speed and footwork department, which just goes to show how ridiculously talented Demetrious Johnson is. Cruz said that for the first time he had to change his strategy midway through the fight.
Cruz did win the fight in dominant fashion, showing that he has the ability to adapt and change style within a fight. Along with that, Cruz’s footwork is just unbelievable. The angles, the footwork, the speed. It’s fascinating.
He’s also developed into quite the trash talker, which gives him a perceived mental advantage. I don’t even think we can call his talk trash. He’s a….fact talker. He likes to dissect his opponents and talk bad about their fighting style in an analytical way. He may lack the charisma of a Conor McGregor or a Chael Sonnen, but his talking is leaps and bounds more intellectual.
I can only say so much about the Dominator, but to get a really good look at him, here are my other recommended viewings.
Recommended Viewings
(Heavy Hands) UFC Boston: Dillashaw vs Cruz, the Battle of Kings
Fight Night Boston Free Fight: Dominick Cruz vs Takeya Mizugaki
UFN 81: Dominick Cruz on hitting rock bottom, Dillashaw’s intelligence & more
Fight Night Boston: Robin Black Breakdown (Short Version – Long Version)
Jack Slack: On The Existence of Neo Footwork
BJJ Scout: Dominick Cruz Study Part 2 – Footwork Details and Counter Strategy