TJ Dillashaw and Dominic Cruz engaged in a highly-skilled match of footwork where Dillashaw wanted to implement his offense and Cruz wanted to maintain his defense. With the title on the line it was Cruz who got the nod from the judges in a split decision many saw the other way. Where does the Bantamweight division go from here?
The second UFC fight card of 2016 promised a compelling main event between two masters of footwork. On one side was the challenger and former champion, Dominic Cruz; he never lost his belt in competition and after 3 knee surgeries and a groin tear many doubted his ability to come back with the form and speed that got him the belt in the first place. Ring rust and the wear and tear on his body seemed to be the prevading auras of doubt surrounding his chances of beat the man who destroyed Renan Barao.
Across from the man known as The Dominator was TJ Dillashaw; he oozed confidence even after fielding question after question regarding his extra-curricular feuds with Uriah Faber, the public’s cries of ‘snake in the grass’ thanks to Conor McGregor, and the ever-present Cruz deprecating his accomplishments and skills at every offer of a microphone.
I scored the fight for Cruz. I thought it was a clear that he won rounds 1, 2, 5, and maybe the 3rd. Basically going into the 5th round I felt Cruz was far enough ahead that if he just survived the crown was his. He survived, and it turned out one judge, Sal d’Amato, saw four rounds favoring Dillashaw causing the split decision.
"there’s no such thing as rust. How many times have I said that? I’ve said it to all my critics. I’ve said that to everybody. Rust does not exist unless you don’t train hard enough"
With media, fans, and judges so split on who won the fight it’s not a situation one would call a robbery. Much like the welterweight tilt between Lawler and Condit earlier this month at UFC 195 this fight was close. It was also a contest between power and speed. It was primarily offense versus primarily defense and Cruz’ defense won the contest in the eyes of those who matter.
He made Dillashaw miss often (26% significant strikes landed) and looked great doing it. There were moments where he held his ground and threw leather backing TJ up to get space and respect. It was a beautiful performance that might go down as one of the greatest returns from injury in MMA history and vintage Cruz.
Also vintage Cruz was his ‘I told you so’ post-fight remarks as if to remind everyone of their doubts in him. “No I tried to explain: there’s no such thing as rust. How many times have I said that? I’ve said it to all my critics. I’ve said that to everybody. Rust does not exist unless you don’t train hard enough,” he said to Joe Rogan in the post-fight interview.
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