Dominick Cruz: Cody Garbrandt Talked Himself Into This Fight
Dominick Cruz will look to add No. 5-ranked Cody Garbrandt to his list of current and former Team Alpha Male victims when he meets “No Love” in the co-main event of December 30’s UFC 207 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and as usual, the cerebral assassin isn’t giving his heavy-handed opponent much respect.
Many in the MMA world are enamored with Garbrandt’s scary, fight-stopping power – a rarity for the 135-pound ranks and a skill “The Dominator” has indeed never displayed during his brilliant career. Yet while “No Love’s” four show-stopping knockouts in five wins since joining the UFC in 2015 will get fans talking, Cruz spoke up on today’s “The MMA Hour” (quotes via MMA Mania) to state his belief that Garbrandt isn’t a top-ranked fighter but simply talked his way into a big fight:
“We’re in the fight business and this is a fight, plain and simple. He isn’t in the top five of the division, and it’s my job to go out there and prove it.
“He did talk himself into this fight, 100 percent. It’s my job to go out there and fight him. I want to fight him, I want to fight this man because it sparks interests and there is a beef there. This guy has been running his mouth a lot. So it’s my job to go out there and shut it for him and show him why he is nowhere near the level he thinks he is.”
Since returning from an almost four-year layoff due to multiple surgeries, Cruz has ramped his rivalry up with Team Alpha Male and their fighters to never-before-seen heights. He beat former TAM flagship member TJ Dillashaw by decision to win back his belt last January, and he followed it up by badly outclassing founder Urijah Faber at UFC 199.
He’s now matched up with Alpha Male’s latest (and some would say greatest) hope to beat the Alliance MMA champion in Garbrandt, who’s made knocking out some of the world’s top bantamweights looking easy. If Cruz is known for one thing, however, it’s not getting hit, making his upcoming showdown with Garbrandt one of the most interesting styles clashes the still-developing UFC 135-pound landscape has ever seen.
