Tag: Dominick Cruz

Jose Aldo Rules Out Fighting Dominick Cruz, Wants TJ Dillashaw Next

Jose AldoJose Aldo has ruled out a fight between him and Dominick Cruz and is instead hoping to square off against TJ Dillashaw in a number one contender fight next. The former featherweight champion re-established himself as a player at bantamweight with a dominant decision win over Pedro Munhoz at UFC 265. Aldo is laser-focused on […]

Jose Aldo

Jose Aldo has ruled out a fight between him and Dominick Cruz and is instead hoping to square off against TJ Dillashaw in a number one contender fight next.

The former featherweight champion re-established himself as a player at bantamweight with a dominant decision win over Pedro Munhoz at UFC 265.

Aldo is laser-focused on the 135lb strap currently held by Aljamain Sterling who is set to put it on the line against Petr Yan at UFC 267 on October 30.

The winner of that match-up appears to be set to face Dillashaw who returned from his EPO-induced two-year layoff to pick up a razor-thin split decision win over Cory Sandhagen earlier this year.

During a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Aldo revealed he is still hoping to face Dillashaw next despite the fact the former two-time bantamweight champion seems set for a title shot.

“I want to climb step-by-step,” Aldo said. “I may have bitten off more than I could chew [early in my bantamweight run] but it happens, you aim big and hit big. But it’s different now, we’re going step-by-step, adapting to the division. After this great fight, I want to put on another great performance by December.

“Dillashaw is the focus,” Aldo continued. “If it’s early next year, I can wait too. I’ll leave that up to ‘Dede’ [coach Andre Pederneiras] to deal with. I want to fight by December or January, tops. With another great fight and win, we can get closer to the belt.”

Aldo has heard people talking about a potential fight between him and bantamweight legend, Cruz, but he’s not interested and explained why.

“I heard some reporters talking about this fight [with Cruz] but I think we’re both going different directions,” Aldo said. “He’s more dedicated to [UFC] broadcasts than his own fighting career. I don’t think about fighting Dominick today. I respect him, I also like him for the fact he’s one of the greatest bantamweight champions, but right now I’m heading towards the title. There’s no reason why I’ll stop and do a fight that will take me nowhere. It’s more likely for me to fight Rob Font than Dominick Cruz.”

Who do you think Jose Aldo should fight next?

José Aldo Aiming For T.J. Dillashaw Before Considering Cruz Fight

Former UFC featherweight champion José Aldo has set his sights on a fellow former champ in T.J. Dillashaw. “Junior” recently made an Octagon appearance in August against the #9-ranked Pedro Munhoz. The former champion was featured on the UFC 265: Lewis vs. Gane PPV and reminded everyone of his intentions for another title run. The […]

Continue Reading José Aldo Aiming For T.J. Dillashaw Before Considering Cruz Fight at MMA News.

Former UFC featherweight champion José Aldo has set his sights on a fellow former champ in T.J. Dillashaw.

“Junior” recently made an Octagon appearance in August against the #9-ranked Pedro Munhoz. The former champion was featured on the UFC 265: Lewis vs. Gane PPV and reminded everyone of his intentions for another title run.

The timing of his win was unfortunate, as T.J. Dillashaw took massive damage in the process of scraping past the rangy striker Cory Sandhagen in July. In the middle of an early scramble, the former two-time champ admits he got lazy and let Sandhagen rip up his knee while briefly stuck in a heel hook.

According to our initial report on Aug. 9, Dillashaw mentioned that he believes a viable return to training is possible after three months. It appears the time frame may line up for Aldo, who is fixated on a pairing with Dillashaw.

“Dillashaw is the focus,” Aldo told MMA Fighting. “If it’s early next year, I can wait too. I’ll leave that up to ‘Dede’ [coach Andre Pederneiras] to deal with. I want to fight by December or January, tops. With another great fight and win, we can get closer to the belt.”

Aldo seems willing to wait and has expressed patience, as the match-up has the makings to be an epic battle. After hearing reporters talk about a potential fight with two prominent WEC legends in Dominick Cruz and Aldo, “Junior” was cold to the idea. Then, insisted that Rob Font would sooner be a better fight than the 36-year old Cruz.

“I heard some reporters talking about this fight [with Cruz] but I think we’re both going different directions,” Aldo said. “He’s more dedicated to [UFC] broadcasts than his own fighting career. I don’t think about fighting Dominick today. I respect him, I also like him for the fact he’s one of the greatest bantamweight champions, but right now I’m heading towards the title. There’s no reason why I’ll stop and do a fight that will take me nowhere. It’s more likely for me to fight Rob Font than Dominick Cruz.”

The Brazilian legend in his heyday ran up an 18-fight winning streak at 145 pounds before losing in dramatic fashion to the supernova Conor McGregor in 13 seconds. Despite the setbacks he’s endured in the UFC, he is relentless in his pursuit to wear gold around his waist just one more time.

Would you rather see José Aldo fight Dominick Cruz or TJ Dillashaw?

Continue Reading José Aldo Aiming For T.J. Dillashaw Before Considering Cruz Fight at MMA News.

Dominick Cruz to Call Old Rival T.J. Dillashaw’s UFC Return on ESPN

Dominick Cruz T.J. DillashawA bit of an interesting moment will happen this weekend, as former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz will be a part of ESPN’s broadcast crew for UFC Vegas 32: T.J. Dillashaw vs. Cory Sandhagen at the UFC Apex. Cruz has been a prominent voice on the UFC’s broadcast team for years, beginning as a desk […]

Dominick Cruz T.J. Dillashaw

A bit of an interesting moment will happen this weekend, as former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz will be a part of ESPN’s broadcast crew for UFC Vegas 32: T.J. Dillashaw vs. Cory Sandhagen at the UFC Apex.

Cruz has been a prominent voice on the UFC’s broadcast team for years, beginning as a desk analyst during the promotion’s time with FOX and his role has expanded ever since the UFC’s big move to ESPN. Cruz will be an analyst as his old rival, Dillashaw makes his return to the UFC octagon after a two-year hiatus against the rising star Sandhagen.

Cruz beat Dillashaw in his own return bout in early 2016, earning the bantamweight belt for the second time in beating Dillashaw in a razor-thin split-decision victory. Ever since that fight, Dillashaw has wanted another shot at Cruz before his career is over.

Dillashaw will make his first walk to the octagon after a long layoff this weekend, after having served a two-year USADA suspension for testing positive for EPOs. Many in the UFC’s bantamweight division, including Cruz and Sandhagen, have ripped Dillashaw for cheating and trying to gain certain advantages during his title reign.

Before falling to former UFC flyweight champion Henry Cejudo, Dillashaw had just begun a second stint as the UFC’s bantamweight champion after beating Cody Garbrandt in back-to-back fights. He was attempting at becoming a double-champion in the UFC if he was able to get past Cejudo, but he ended falling by first-round TKO at a UFC Fight Night event.

The winner of Dillashaw and Sandhagen this weekend will more than likely be next for the UFC bantamweight title shot. Current UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling is widely expected to fight later this year in an immediate rematch with the former champion, Petr Yan. It’ll be interesting to see if Cruz and Dillashaw exchange words after the fight, depending on how it plays out.

Do you think the UFC should have old rivals commentating on one another’s fights in the octagon?

Cejudo Blasts Cruz Over Comments On McGregor’s UFC 264 Antics

Henry Cejudo has taken aim at Dominick Cruz for his take on Conor McGregor’s post-fight UFC 264 antics. There have been many strong opinions over McGregor’s words following his defeat to Dustin Poirier in their trilogy fight. McGregor suffe…

Henry Cejudo has taken aim at Dominick Cruz for his take on Conor McGregor’s post-fight UFC 264 antics. There have been many strong opinions over McGregor’s words following his defeat to Dustin Poirier in their trilogy fight. McGregor suffered a broken tibia and the fight was called off at the conclusion of round one. Poirier […]

Continue Reading Cejudo Blasts Cruz Over Comments On McGregor’s UFC 264 Antics at MMA News.

Dominick Cruz Criticizes McGregor On How He’s Handled Losses

Dominick Cruz believes Conor McGregor hasn’t exactly been gracious in defeat. McGregor shared the Octagon with Poirier a third time this past Saturday night (July 10). The lightweight collision headlined UFC 264 under the bright light in Las Vega…

Dominick Cruz believes Conor McGregor hasn’t exactly been gracious in defeat. McGregor shared the Octagon with Poirier a third time this past Saturday night (July 10). The lightweight collision headlined UFC 264 under the bright light in Las Vegas. This was a trilogy bout as the score was 1-1 going into fight night. The fight […]

Continue Reading Dominick Cruz Criticizes McGregor On How He’s Handled Losses at MMA News.

Marlon Vera Calls Out Dominick Cruz After UFC Vegas 29 Win, Finds Him Pantless Backstage

Cruz VeraMarlon Vera had a very interesting encounter with Dominick Cruz. Vera returned to the win column with an impressive unanimous decision win over Davey Grant on the main card of UFC Vegas 29 last night. In his post-fight interview, he called for a fight with Cruz who was commentating cageside. “Dom, let’s go!” Vera said […]

Cruz Vera

Marlon Vera had a very interesting encounter with Dominick Cruz.

Vera returned to the win column with an impressive unanimous decision win over Davey Grant on the main card of UFC Vegas 29 last night. In his post-fight interview, he called for a fight with Cruz who was commentating cageside.

“Dom, let’s go!” Vera said with Cruz responding soon after.

“There’s a long list of people calling me out,” Cruz said. “We’re all trying to fight up the rankings, up the ladder. I got to respect someone trying to fight up the ladder. He wants to fight me, I want to fight up the ladder too.”

All in all, it seemed like Cruz wasn’t too interested in facing someone below him. That said, that wasn’t the last he’d see of Vera that night.

Thanks to Michael Bisping, we got to see Vera interact with Cruz backstage…with the latter being pantless.

“I really don’t like you but I don’t have my pants on so I know how weird that is,” Cruz said to Vera while Bisping proceeded to clown him afterwards.

As far as fighting is concerned, Cruz last competed in March when he returned to the win column with a unanimous decision victory over Casey Kenney. He is currently ranked No. 9 while Vera is No. 15.