Paid Members Egg Shen Posted December 27, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted December 27, 2015 Cruz himself raised a great point. He's said that despite being talked about as one of the p4p best, Dillashaw only holds 2 wins against fighters against fighters in the current top 15 (both Barao), and he thinks that's down to the fact that Cruz and Dillashaw are just the worst possible matchup for Renan (Cruz also claims TJ copies his striking style). Usually i'd put this down to fight hype and mind games but i always hear about how Cruz is the amongst the best fighters in the sport at breaking down and analysing fights so i'm leaning towards him having TJ's number. Â TJ post-Bang may (and likely) be able to beat the majority of the top 15 however, he's just been tied up with Barao for so long. It's crazy that the undisputed king of the division hasn't beaten any of the other challengers. 135 is wide open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted December 27, 2015 Author Paid Members Share Posted December 27, 2015 He's right. It's an interesting point. Dillashaw's whole rep as a top fighter (and he definitely is a top fighter) is built on the two wins over Renan Barao. The Barao wins were so huge because everyone knows what a badass Barao is/was. But if you take Barao away, Dillashaw's biggest/best career wins are...  Joe Soto Mike Easton Hugo Viana Vaughan Lee  I mean, good wins but it's hardly pound-for-pound stuff. It's a massive drop off from Barao's level, that's for sure. And even the Soto win, Soto took that fight on 24 hours notice after the whole Barao passing out/weight cut drama thing. Not knocking TJ as he can only beat what's there and 135 isn't a very deep division. But facts are facts, without the Barao wins his record isn't that impressive. His loss to Assuncao was a bit of a dodgy decision if I recall it correctly. Then there's the TKO loss to Dodson. Looking at his record minus Barao, you can really see why he was seen as such a massive underdog going into that first Barao fight. There was no reason to think Dillashaw would give Barao so many problems.  He looked so good against Barao both times. He looked way improved. You can't discount him as one of the best fighters in the world. But it might just have been a styles thing with Barao. Maybe he's just Barao's problem opponent and had his number. Until we see Dillashaw tested by a Cruz, Faber, Assuncao again, maybe McDonald - I'd hesitate to call him one of the best pound-for-pound (although it's a retarded discussion anyway). We need to see how he looks against different opponents with various styles.  On the flipside though, you can pick apart anyone's record if you look hard enough and take the right angle. I mean, Dillashaw could argue that most of Cruz's top wins are over guys who were really flyweights. Aside from Faber, you look at Cruz's top wins during his best run at 135 - Mighty Mouse, Benavidez x2, Jorgensen, McCall - these are all flyweights now. I wouldn't agree with that criticism but just pointing out that you can try to diminish anyone's record if you really want to.  Whatever. I'm really looking forward to this fight. Even though people might be using the logic of 'well TJ has basically copied Cruz's style' that doesn't necessarily mean Cruz wins. Dillashaw has adopted a Cruz-like striking style but I'd say he's got more power than Cruz. He's fast, has great cardio, he's dangerous until the final bell (5th round KOs against Barao and Soto). Just because he's taken things from Cruz's style that doesn't mean Cruz can do everything better than TJ. It's a fascinating one. I just can't help thinking Cruz's layoffs are going to hinder him, especially in the later rounds, against a younger, more active and highly confident champion who's riding a wave of momentum. Cruz is one of the most intelligent fighters in the game, if anyone can pull it off it's probably him. But the Mizugaki win, awesome as it was, was too brief for me to base too much on going into this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted December 30, 2015 Author Paid Members Share Posted December 30, 2015 They've shuffled this card up. For the better. Pearson vs Trinaldo is opening the main card now. And best of all we're getting Felder vs Cruickshank on the FS1 prelims now. Yes. Fuck you Fight Pass.  Here's how the card looks now;  FOX SPORTS 1 MAIN CARD TJ Dillashaw vs Dominick Cruz - Bantamweight Title Anthony Pettis vs Eddie Alvarez Travis Browne vs Matt Mitrione Ross Pearson vs Francisco Trinaldo  FOX SPORTS 1 PRELIMS Patrick Cote vs Ben Saunders Mairbek Taisumov vs Chris Wade Maximo Blanco vs TBA Paul Felder vs Daron Cruickshank  FIGHT PASS PRELIMS Tim Boetsch vs Ed Herman Charles Rosa vs Jimy Hettes Ilir Latifi vs Sean O'Connell Patrick Williams vs Rob Font Francimar Barroso vs Abdul-Kerim Edilov Don't know what's going on with Maximo Blanco's fight. It's said TBA for ages now and we're rapidly approaching fight night. They're going to have to quickly get some scrub in or scratch it off the card completely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted December 31, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted December 31, 2015 It's a quality show this. I'm interested in everything from Latifi and up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted January 3, 2016 Author Paid Members Share Posted January 3, 2016 Anyone see the clip on last night's show of the little Dillashaw-Cruz head to head on Ultimate Insider? Â For those that missed it; Â https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=ZTKNf-ftkDI Â I assume that's just a teaser for a longer version, yeah? Dillashaw seemed a bit wound up to me. I'd like to see them do more stuff like this. We were saying recently that we'd like to see the UFC do their own regular ripoff of Sky's 'The Gloves Are Off' and this follows that same basic principle. Good stuff. Â If they are going to do more of this type of thing in the future though, I think they should probably get someone bigger who can handle themselves in between the fighters. Imagine if you had Anik sitting between Jones and DC and it kicked off again? He'd be collateral damage in a suit. They need someone like Brian Stann in the middle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted January 3, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted January 3, 2016 Â I assume that's just a teaser for a longer version, yeah? yeh, sure they mentioned the full length version would be coming out soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted January 3, 2016 Author Paid Members Share Posted January 3, 2016 Can't believe I'm still the only vote for Dillashaw. I was sure when this fight was announced that it'd be seen as a neck and neck thing on here. The poll's 7-1 to Cruz at the minute. Â All I can say is I hope you're all right! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pryko Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 If they are going to do more of this type of thing in the future though, I think they should probably get someone bigger who can handle themselves in between the fighters. Imagine if you had Anik sitting between Jones and DC and it kicked off again? He'd be collateral damage in a suit. They need someone like Brian Stann in the middle. What's Brian Stann gonna do in between Cormier and Jones?  He'd be ex-U.S. Marine Collateral Damage in a Suit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted January 3, 2016 Author Paid Members Share Posted January 3, 2016 Yeah but at least they probably respect him. Everyone in the UFC seems to love Stann the Man, don't they? Anik's like a QVC presenter. He'd just get swatted aside like a little dragonfly. Action Stann would pull out a grenade or some shit. I have faith in him. Â Seriously, if it kicked off between Jones and Cormier, I don't think there's ANY one man I'd fancy to break them up. But at least get someone more physical than fucking Jon Anik. For his own safety if nothing else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted January 3, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted January 3, 2016 The Greatest Living American and all that. Â i'd actually like Stann to be there simply because he'd probably do a great job and hosting it, Stann is quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members lambyUK Posted January 4, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted January 4, 2016 They've done these one to one's before Wand. Â This one with Bisping vs Rockhold was great and really should have set off a trend. Â Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BigJag Posted January 4, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted January 4, 2016 Cruz comes across as a bit of a bully in that short video. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members lambyUK Posted January 4, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted January 4, 2016 Cruz comes across as a bit of a bully in that short video.  Can't say I agree Jag. Cruz is very articulate, and isn't threatening in the slightest. He questions Dillashaw's claims that he's going to knock him out, and all he asks Dillashaw is how will he do it? Dillashaw doesn't have an answer so does the same thing that Mendes did against Mcgregor when he couldn't win in a verbal confrontation and does the hand yapping gesture.  Cruz is basically too intelligent for Dillashaw and it clearly comes across that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted January 4, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted January 4, 2016 Cruz is a mental bully. I don't think he ever comes off as the most likable of guys, i always favoured Faber during their feud. Quite interested to see what side of the fence Faber sits on for this one actually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted January 4, 2016 Paid Members Share Posted January 4, 2016 Â Â Don't know what's going on with Maximo Blanco's fight. It's said TBA for ages now and we're rapidly approaching fight night. They're going to have to quickly get some scrub in or scratch it off the card completely. Â according the UFC.com Blanco is fighting Dennis Bermudez. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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