The last time I talked about Demetrious Johnson, I wasn’t exactly nice about his shot at Dominick Cruz’s UFC bantamweight title at UFC on Versus 6.
As a matter of fact, I blatantly said he was in over his head to think he would defeat Cruz, but fast-forward to right now, just days away from the fight.
Do I still think Demetrious Johnson is in over his head in thinking his tools are anything close to what is needed to beat Cruz?
Well, I can’t afford to place any bets, so until I get some cash, I can’t say he is.
Besides, y’all know Johnson does have the tools to beat Cruz, right?
I never doubted that the Matt Hume product from the AMC Pankration camp would take Cruz down and try to blast Cruz relentlessly before Cruz could get it through his head that he had just been taken down, and I never did doubt that Johnson would give Cruz a fight.
In all honesty, I just don’t see why it’s a federal crime in the MMA world to pick Dominick Cruz—why do we MMA fans not have the right to back the champion if we honestly think he will win?
Besides, Johnson might be on a different level with his wrestling compared to Scott Jorgensen, Joseph Benavidez and the UFC 132 version of Urijah Faber, and Johnson could be a more active grappler than Brian Bowles, but all the aforementioned names were not given any less of a chance to beat Cruz than what Johnson is being given.
And yes, Johnson is being given a chance to legitimately defeat Cruz, because in MMA, any fighter on a good day could defeat the other, bad day or not.
Also, Faber was supposed to be too much for Cruz, as were Benavidez, Bowles and Jorgensen—I would know, as I did choose Jorgensen to win at WEC 53—so why would Johnson fare any better?
Even though he’s not my pick—and coercing me into picking Johnson on the basis of “you don’t know s*** about MMA unless you pick Johnson to win” will only cause me to root harder for Cruz—I’ll tell you why you’re going in a great direction to pick Mighty Mouse if you are doing so.
Though even a first-time MMA spectator can see that Johnson is somewhat small for a bantamweight, the fact remains that Johnson has used his smaller size to his advantage.
With his short size and his obvious cardio comes hard-to-match speed, which helps him get inside quicker on fighters with the reach advantage. And from that point, the speed-cardio blend also makes his aggression from the top—and on the feet—even more painful to contend with.
Even I will admit that Johnson will not stop pushing Cruz to the limit all throughout their bout, but does it change my opinion of Cruz possibly dominating with his hit-and-run striking offense?
Absolutely not, but Johnson does have what it takes to get the win and the belt—there is no question that he has what it takes to get it.
The only question is, will he get it this Saturday?
If Johnson strikes first, he might just get that bantamweight title yet.
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