Dominick Cruz Isn’t a Moneyweight Fighter

First of all, let me just start off the column this week by saying that Dominick Cruz is a tremendous fighter. He is truly one of the greatest comeback stories that the sport of MMA has ever seen. However, the attitude Cruz has taken as of late toward a rematch in a worthy challenger in T.J. Dillashaw is somewhat disheartening. It’s somewhat understandable that at this point Cruz wants to make as much money as he can as champion. However, he also has to come to the realization that he’s not a moneyweight fighter or a huge draw, so angling for super-fights right now with Jose Aldo makes no sense.

Speaking to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto recently, Cruz had the following to say on a potential rematch with former champion T.J. Dillashaw: “I don’t care about that mother****er at all. I beat that dude three years off the couch. I beat him. He got me at 75 percent. So, the fact that he thinks he beat me is nonsense. I don’t need to prove anything to that guy. I don’t really care about him. There are so many other fights that are extremely important. There’s 145. The belt is up for grabs, between the interim belt and Notorious [Conor McGregor]. Who knows? Notorious could get hurt after this fight with Diaz and then be out for 6 or 7 months and then they’d need someone to fight for the interim title. I’m willing to jump in there and fight for the interim world title and bring two belts together. Why not? At 145, I would do that in a heartbeat. That’s a much more fun, much bigger fight than anything near TJ Dillashaw.”

Previously, it was Dillashaw who Cruz defeated in a close split decision to regain the title he had never actually lost. Meanwhile, Dillashaw scored a decisive win over Raphael Assuncao at UFC 200. Assuncao was riding a seven-fight winning streak going into the fight, which included a win over Dillashaw before he ended up winning the title and becoming champion himself.

OK again, what Cruz did is pretty amazing. He was snake-bitten by debilitating injuries and was forced into a three-year layoff from the sport. Many times it looked like his career would never recover, or injuries might even force him to retirement. Cruz was a young man in his 20s losing the best years he had to capitalize on being a UFC champion. So for him to make such a comeback and look as good as he has is incredible. When he fought Dillashaw, you didn’t really see a guy with ring rust despite having such long back-to-back layoffs from inside the Octagon. Not to mention, he followed up regaining the title with a dominant victory over Urijah Faber at UFC 199, effectively winning the rubber match of their trilogy of fights.

However, Cruz’s attitude against Dillashaw isn’t justified. For starters, it’s not like Cruz’s win over Dillashaw was a five-round blowout. It was a very close, arguably marginal, split decision. It was a case where it arguably could’ve went either way. I don’t have a problem with those who scored the fight for Cruz, but it was still a close fight and legitimately very tough to score. Additionally, bantamweight is a very competitive division right now. Bantamweight is really more competitive and talent-filled than it ever has been. So for Cruz to say he’s not interested in fighting the top contender and is only looking for super-fights above his weight class makes no sense. Since winning the title, he’s only defended the title once. He hasn’t exactly cleaned out the division yet. So it’s time for Cruz to face these challenges.

On one hand, I understand why Cruz wants these bigger challenges. His career went through a rough period where it looked like he would never fight again. Now it’s gotten a whole second lease on life. So he wants big superfights and moneyweight type fights. The problem? Cruz isn’t really a draw and in a position to ask for basically whatever fight he wants like Conor McGregor. According to the Wrestling Observer (via Bloody Elbow), UFC 199 that Cruz co-headlined only pulled in about 320,000 buys. That’s comparable to UFC 132, which was headlined by Cruz vs. Faber II for the bantamweight title and pulled in a reported 350,000 PPV buys. The shows didn’t bomb, but Cruz isn’t exactly a license to print money here. In short, he’s in no position to make demands for an interim title fight with Jose Aldo. Especially when there’s a more deserving contender ahead of Cruz at featherweight in Max Holloway.

If Cruz really wants those fights, then he should prove he can draw the type of attention to a fight that gets the interest to justify something of a superfight caliber level match-up. He should face Dillashaw in a rematch and leave no doubt out at all who the better man is. Besides, Dillashaw defended the belt twice as champion, Cruz hasn’t even beaten that record. Plus with up and coming contenders at bantamweight such as John Lineker and Cody Garbrandt, I don’t see Cruz running out of tough, legitimate opponents anytime soon. He should face Dillashaw in the rematch, and that should be that.

Jeffrey Harris is 411mania’s resident Jack of All Trades and has covered MMA for the site since 2008. You can shoot him an e-mail at [email protected] or hit him up on Facebook. He also co-hosts the 411 Ground & Pound Radio Show with Robert Winfree. You can listen to the latest episode below.