Cruz: TJ is nothing but a wannabee

Former UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw recently appeared on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour, and discussed recent developments in the sport. The formerly dominant striking approach, Dutch Kickboxing, is a mix of boxing, Muay Thai kicks, and some karate kick influences, all thrown in devastating combinations, with a higher degree of footwork that you might typically find in Thailand. An increasing number of fighters are using what has been termed Neo footwork, in which strikes can be thrown from a wide variety of stances and angles, sometimes with wrong stepping, and even from a southpaw stance.

TJ Dillashaw vs. Renan Barao was an excellent examples of the two styles colliding. Dillashaw’s coach Duane ‘Bang’ Ludwig opined that TJ could take out Cruz within two minutes. Cruz was not impressed with the remarks, but conceded that Dillashaw was improving.

“I think that the sport is evolving and guys that aren’t choosing to evolve with the sport are getting beaten,” said Cruz, as transcribed by Adam Guillen Jr. for MMAMamia. “I never thought Barao was as good as everybody said he was. But, I couldn’t say that because I’ve been on the sidelines. And Dana White was preaching about him like he was the next Jesus in coming. So, you just got to hear what Dana says and let him say what he wants about people to build the 135-pound division. With me gone, let’s face it, they needed to build anybody they could in that slot. Barao was the guy that needed to be built because I wasn’t there. And when T.J. came up, now he’s the guy that needs to get built up because I am not there. That being said, the division has just been trying to strive and build with me gone. Now that I’m coming back, it can get back on its feet again. That’s the truth.”

Cruz too is often cited as exemplifying Neo footwork, but he denies that his style and Dillashaw’s are cut from the same cloth.

“I see absolutely no similarities in my fighting style and T.J. Dillishaw’s,” said Cruz. “The reason I say that is we do different things. He’s switching stances and I’m not. I am doing something totally different that nobody understands. You can listen to my fights commentary from years ago, and what I was doing was awkward, herky jerky, never seen before. It was just weird. I got this weird style that doesn’t make sense. Now four years later, the game is changed in the last four years. Now you hear commentary on T.J. Dillishaw that he is moving his feet, using feints switching his stance and instead of it being awkward and weird, it’s beautiful to everybody else.

“So, the point is, the sport is evolving and people are starting to see the use of switch stances, the use of feints, angles and moving your feet and making people miss. That happened in the last four years since I have been out. Now, my style is being appreciated. When I go out there, people will see that T.J. Dillashaw is nothing but a wannabe and I look forward to going out there and proving that I am the best in the world.

“I’m in an extremely awkward position where you can only talk so much and only be so confident on the outside where people are going to listen to you when you can’t go out there and compete. So there is only so much I can really say because I have to sit on my words right now. I have to sit on my hands because I’m injured. That’s all you hear on Twitter: ‘Keep talking Dominick as you sit on the sidelines.’ So that’s what the public is thinking when I talk. So I’m careful with the words I choose because I can’t go in there and compete quite yet. Dillishaw is out there competing, so kudos to him for staying healthy and keeping the division rolling. But, when I come back, the real fights are going to get started and people are going to see what this division is capable of with me as the champion.”

Cruz anticipates a return to the Octagon in early 2016.