Former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw surrendered his title last month in the main event of UFC Fight Night 81, dropping a slightly controversial decision loss to Dominick “The Dominator” Cruz. Leading up to the bout, it seemed as if there was some tension between the two, and Dillashaw, who has openly expressed his interest
Former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw surrendered his title last month in the main event of UFC Fight Night 81, dropping a slightly controversial decision loss to Dominick “The Dominator” Cruz.
Leading up to the bout, it seemed as if there was some tension between the two, and Dillashaw, who has openly expressed his interest in an immediate rematch, hasn’t given it up.
Cruz, a fighter who possesses world class movement and footwork, has been criticized in the past for being a boring fighter, and not being one to engage so to say. Dillashaw believes this to be true, and took to his official Instagram account earlier today to blast the champion for wanting to run rather than actually fight:
“Only equipment needed for the rematch against Cruz,” Dillashaw said on Friday. “Next training camp is going to be strictly running marathons and pillow fighting. Cause that little b–ch doesn’t want to fight he wants to run and throw his pillows around that he calls fists!”
Continuing on, the former kingpin made it clear that he wasn’t going to sit around and be nice and quiet anymore, but rather voice his opinions. At this point, Dillashaw essentially demanded a rematch, making it known that he wants his belt back:
“Give me the rematch to get back what is rightfully mine and should have never lost,” Dillashaw wrote. “No more being respectful or nice cause that doesn’t seem to get you s–t anymore.”
While an immediate rematch between Cruz and Dillashaw could be a possibility within the contender scarce 135-pound division, all signs have pointed to the UFC booking a trilogy bout between “The Dominator” and No. 3-ranked Urijah “The California Kid” Faber.
Who would you rather see Cruz defend his title against next?
Reigning UFC bantamweight champion Dominick “The Dominator” Cruz recently bashed long-time rival Urijah Faber, saying that “The California Kid” has been gifted title shots throughout his career. Faber, however, begs to differ. “The California Kid” is a former WEC champion, but has indeed gone 0-3 in UFC title shots. One of those shots at UFC
Reigning UFC bantamweight champion Dominick “The Dominator” Cruz recently bashed long-time rival Urijah Faber, saying that “The California Kid” has been gifted title shots throughout his career.
Faber, however, begs to differ.
“The California Kid” is a former WEC champion, but has indeed gone 0-3 in UFC title shots. One of those shots at UFC gold came against Cruz at 2011’s UFC 132 in which “The Dominator” edged out a decision victory. Prior to that, Faber had submitted Cruz back at WEC 26 in 2007.
With Cruz now seemingly healthy after years of injuries, and Faber still near the top of the division, the time is now for the trilogy bout.
“The California Kid” seems overly excited to get his hands on Cruz one more time, recently taking to his official Instagram account to fire back at his rival, expressing his interest in breaking the “glass champ”:
“I keep hearing articles talking about me. Apparently@domcruz619 thinks something has been gifted in my life. I’ve had double the amount of fights that dude has in around the same amount of years, i have 5 more finishes than he has total fights, I’ve been a champion or a top contender for the last 13 years. Last time we fought i put MR. Hard to Hit on his ass multiple times. And the reason he is alive is because there are rules in mma and i was forced to let him live. I have jumped up weight classes and fought future hall of famers at multiple divisions. I take on all comers and don’t back out if my body isn’t feeling perfect. I can’t wait to whoop this dope! @danawhiteufc@lorenzofertitta please gimme a date. Lets get a staff of Drs on hand at Cruz’s training and ask his teammates to take it easy. I wanna be the one to break the glass champ!! #glasschamp”
Referring to Cruz as the glass champ is a dig at the champion’s notorious injury history, and although it’s nothing serious, Cruz is rehabbing a slight foot injury suffered in his UFC Fight Night 81 bout with TJ Dillashaw.
The champion shouldn’t be out too long, and the UFC is likely to book Cruz vs. Faber III in the near future.
After reclaiming the title he had never technically lost at last month’s UFC Fight Night 81, reigning UFC bantamweight champion Dominick “The Dominator” Cruz appears to be headed for a trilogy bout with bitter rival Urijah Faber. This fight was originally set to take place at UFC 148 in 2012, but one of Cruz’s many
After reclaiming the title he had never technically lost at last month’s UFC Fight Night 81, reigning UFC bantamweight champion Dominick “The Dominator” Cruz appears to be headed for a trilogy bout with bitter rival Urijah Faber.
This fight was originally set to take place at UFC 148 in 2012, but one of Cruz’s many injuries forced it to be scrapped. Now with “The Dominator” back at the helm and Faber ranked at No. 3, it seems like a perfect time to finally settle the score.
With Faber scoring a submission in the first meeting in 2007, and Cruz winning a decision in 2011, a rubber match is necessary, and the champion admits that he likes the idea of it.
“The California Kid”, although highly successful throughout his lengthy career, has come up short in all three of his UFC title shots, and Cruz feels as if he has been gifted shots at gold:
“I like that Faber matchup because we were supposed to fight but it got put off because of my knee injury, so I feel like that could happen,” Cruz told MMAjunkie. “It’s been 10 years of building with this guy, and I just kind of want to shut him down and keep him out of the division after this. He really isn’t the most relevant guy in the world, but he still does a pretty good fight. He brings some things to the table. He’s still got a championship mindset.
“I think this is just another gift for Faber. He’s been gifted his whole career with title shots, but oh well. Screw it. I’m all he’s got left, so I might as well give him one more.”
After having only competed once over the course of four years prior to his recent fight with TJ Dillashaw, Cruz worried the masses when he appeared to have injured his foot upon his return. “The Dominator” assured that the injury was not too serious, however, also saying that he’s been rehabbing it and will be back to normal soon:
“I wasn’t really banged up (after the fight), just my foot hurt,” Cruz said. “Of course it’s going to hurt worse at the end of the fight, especially because where we fought they didn’t let us tape stuff. If you go across the world in any sport anywhere, you can tape your ankles or your hands or your knees. Well in a fistfight, apparently you’re not allowed to, so it’s super silly. That really hurt my foot very badly because I was taping it the entire camp, so I was used to having that support. If you take away that support and have to fight at a thousand miles an hour, my foot gets hurt a little bit.
“I’m attacking it very aggressively in rehab, doing the things I need to do to get rid of the inflammation, and my body’s feeling strong. My knees are feeling strong. It’s just a matter of upkeep, staying strong, getting faster and rebuilding the body to get to top form because my last camp I came in off ACL injury and I had to skip a lot of portions of building my body because I had to focus on technique for the fight itself. … Now I can build all those things back up around all this time and have a full body going into this next fight.”
Although no date, location or official announcement has been reported just yet, Cruz seems to be on a beeline to a third bout with Faber, arguably the biggest fight that the division has to offer.
Who do you see coming out on top if and when these two clash?
Following the UFC Fight Night 81 event, which saw Dominick Cruz recapture the UFC Bantamweight Championship that he never lost in the Octagon with a decision victory over T.J. Dillashaw in his second comeback fight in the past few years, the Massachusetts State Athletic Commission has released the reported salaries paid to fighters on the card.
As seen below, the winners have two dollar amounts listed, as they received their contracted “show purses” as well as their contracted “win bonuses” for getting the victory. Their opponents obviously receive only their “show purses.”
It’s important to note that the following salaries are strictly those reported to the local state athletic commission, and do not include the discretionary post-fight bonuses, non-Reebok sponsorship money some fighters make, pay-per-view points or other income that is not reported to the commission.
UFC Fight Night 81 took place on Sunday, January 17, 2016 from the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
Main Card (FOX Sports 1)
Dominick Cruz ($55,000 + $55,000 = $110,000) def. T.J. Dillashaw ($70,000)
Eddie Alvarez ($100,000 + no win bonus = $100,000) def. Anthony Pettis ($80,000)
Travis Browne ($60,000 + $60,000 = $120,000) def. Matt Mitrione ($36,000)
Francisco Trinaldo ($27,000 + $27,000 = $54,000) def. Ross Pearson ($48,000)
Preliminary Card (FOX Sports 1)
Patrick Cote ($43,000 + $43,000 = $86,000) def. Ben Saunders ($18,000)
Ed Herman ($47,000 + $47,000 = $94,000) def. Tim Boetsch ($52,000)
Chris Wade ($17,000 + $17,000 = $34,000) def. Mehdi Baghdad ($12,000)
Luke Sanders ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Maximo Blanco ($25,000)
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Paul Felder ($18,000 + $18,000 = $36,000)def. Daron Cruickshank ($20,000)
Ilir Latifi ($22,000 + $22,000 = $44,000) def. Sean O’Connell ($18,000)
Charles Rosa ($12,000 + $12,000 = $24,000) def. Kyle Bochniak ($10,000)
Rob Font ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Joey Gomez ($10,000)
Francimar Barroso ($15,000 + $15,000 = $30,000) def. Elvis Mutapcic ($16,000)
Following the UFC Fight Night 81 event, which saw Dominick Cruz recapture the UFC Bantamweight Championship that he never lost in the Octagon with a decision victory over T.J. Dillashaw in his second comeback fight in the past few years, the Massachusetts State Athletic Commission has released the reported salaries paid to fighters on the card.
As seen below, the winners have two dollar amounts listed, as they received their contracted “show purses” as well as their contracted “win bonuses” for getting the victory. Their opponents obviously receive only their “show purses.”
It’s important to note that the following salaries are strictly those reported to the local state athletic commission, and do not include the discretionary post-fight bonuses, non-Reebok sponsorship money some fighters make, pay-per-view points or other income that is not reported to the commission.
UFC Fight Night 81 took place on Sunday, January 17, 2016 from the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
Main Card (FOX Sports 1)
Dominick Cruz ($55,000 + $55,000 = $110,000) def. T.J. Dillashaw ($70,000)
Eddie Alvarez ($100,000 + no win bonus = $100,000) def. Anthony Pettis ($80,000)
Travis Browne ($60,000 + $60,000 = $120,000) def. Matt Mitrione ($36,000)
Francisco Trinaldo ($27,000 + $27,000 = $54,000) def. Ross Pearson ($48,000)
Preliminary Card (FOX Sports 1)
Patrick Cote ($43,000 + $43,000 = $86,000) def. Ben Saunders ($18,000)
Ed Herman ($47,000 + $47,000 = $94,000) def. Tim Boetsch ($52,000)
Chris Wade ($17,000 + $17,000 = $34,000) def. Mehdi Baghdad ($12,000)
Luke Sanders ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Maximo Blanco ($25,000)
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Paul Felder ($18,000 + $18,000 = $36,000)def. Daron Cruickshank ($20,000)
Ilir Latifi ($22,000 + $22,000 = $44,000) def. Sean O’Connell ($18,000)
Charles Rosa ($12,000 + $12,000 = $24,000) def. Kyle Bochniak ($10,000)
Rob Font ($10,000 + $10,000 = $20,000) def. Joey Gomez ($10,000)
Francimar Barroso ($15,000 + $15,000 = $30,000) def. Elvis Mutapcic ($16,000)
Oft-injured Dominick Cruz finally returned to action in the main event of last Sunday’s (January 17, 2016) UFC Fight Night 81 after having only competed once over the last four years, and being stripped of his title in 2014. Taking on TJ Dillashaw, “The Dominator” edged out a split decision victory to reclaim the title
Oft-injured Dominick Cruz finally returned to action in the main event of last Sunday’s (January 17, 2016) UFC Fight Night 81 after having only competed once over the last four years, and being stripped of his title in 2014.
Taking on TJ Dillashaw, “The Dominator” edged out a split decision victory to reclaim the title he had never technically lost in a close fought bout.
Many were worried, however, when Cruz walked out of the Octagon limping heavily, apparently suffering an injury to his foot. Unaware of what the issue was, it has now been made clear that the reigning champion will luckily avoid yet another surgery.
That being said, Cruz should be ready to defend his 135-pound strap within the coming months, shifting the focus of fight fans to who may be next in line.
The logical choice would be a trilogy bout with bitter rival No. 3-ranked divisional mainstay Urijah “The California Kid” Faber. Soon after his most recent bout, “The Dominator” made it seem as if he was sick of talking about Faber, appearing to be uninterested in the bout.
However, his tune has now changed, as he has expressed interest in finishing “The California Kid” once and for all:
“For the past four years, the only name I’ve been asked about is Faber,” Cruz said in a text message to MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani. “Whether I’m on the FOX desk or shopping at the mall. Let’s get him out of my face and out of the way, so I can continue to clean out the division.
“We owe it to the fans to make this trilogy happen. It’s been almost a decade in the making.”
Faber came out on top when the two met for the first time in 2007, scoring a submission victory, but it was Cruz who walked away with a decision victory in the rematch in 2012.
Who will settle the score when these two bantamweight legends inevitably meet for a third time?
The UFC lightweight division has been taken by storm as featherweight champion Conor McGregor will be moving up to meet 155-pound boss Rafael dos Anjos at March 5’s UFC 197 from Las Vegas, Nevada. Top contenders Anthony “Showtime” Pettis and Eddie Alvarez also just recently did battle in a pivotal fight at last Sunday’s (January
The UFC lightweight division has been taken by storm as featherweight champion Conor McGregor will be moving up to meet 155-pound boss Rafael dos Anjos at March 5’s UFC 197 from Las Vegas, Nevada.
Top contenders Anthony “Showtime” Pettis and Eddie Alvarez also just recently did battle in a pivotal fight at last Sunday’s (January 17, 2016) UFC Fight Night 81.
In the midst of all of this madness, however, we cannot forget about undefeated top contender Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov.
The 22-0 Dagestani-born wrestler has been on the sidelines since April 2014 dealing with numerous injuries, but remains 6-0 inside of the Octagon, and is coming off of a win over dos Anjos.
Aiming to return to action in the coming months, Nurmagomedov recently texted UFC president Dana White, asking for a bout with Alvarez, who edged out a split-decision victory over Pettis last weekend.
Aside from a bout with “The Silent Assassin”, “The Eagle” would also be open to fighting surging No. 5-ranked Tony Ferguson (Via MMAMania):
“Yes, this is true. I watch the fight, Eddie Alvarez vs. Pettis, and I sent a message to (Dana White) that I want to fight this guy because this guy fought two big names, Gilbert Melendez and Pettis. He’s No. 1 contender, very close to me and a contender in lightweight division. I want Alvarez or Tony Ferguson. No problem if UFC gives me Tony or Alvarez because this is two contenders. I am a contender and I want to take one of these guys and after this fight, fight for the belt.”
Arguably already deserving of a title shot, who would you like to see Nurmagomedov square off with upon his hopeful return to the lightweight division?
