Dominick Cruz: I’m on another level than Urijah Faber
For 25 minutes, Dominick Cruz out-struck, out-wrestled, out-shucked and out-jived Jorgensen on the way to a lopsided unanimous-decision win at…
For 25 minutes, Dominick Cruz out-struck, out-wrestled, out-shucked and out-jived Jorgensen on the way to a lopsided unanimous-decision win at Thursday’s WEC 53 event that further cemented the champ’s claim to be the world’s top 135-pounder.
Cruz made little attempt to play the “whatever the UFC brings me” card afterwards. Instead, Cruz knows exactly what he wants: Urijah Faber.
“Yes,” Cruz explained when asked if he’d be interested in the matchup.
“When I first came in, I have no excuses,” Cruz said. “[Faber] beat me fair and square that day. He was a better fighter than me that day, but it’s been three years. That was my very first training camp I ever had with my coach, Eric Del Fierro. Before that fight, I was still working a full-time job, and now I can devote every ounce of energy into fighting to become the best fighter I can.
“I just know that I’m a completely different fighter than I was then. My ground game is better. My wrestling is better. My standup is much better. I have weapons everywhere. I just know I’m on another level than him.”
“[Faber] looked good in his last fight. He finished the guy very quickly, but still, he didn’t fight somebody that was at the super-top level at 135 pounds at this particular moment.
“Some of the things that he’s going to improve on are just basically trying to adjust to my game. That will be hard for him because it’s hard to find people that move as much as I do. There’s certain things he can do and certain things he can come up with – good luck, I don’t know what – but I’ll be ready.”
Cruz has a lingering hand injury he hopes to address shortly, but the 25-year-old said he’s be willing to wait on that surgery if it means a chance to coach opposite Faber and fight him at the conclusion of the season.
“I would accept it very much, and I’d be stoked, and it would be awesome because I would get my loss back. An opportunity like that, I might have to deal with the hand again.”
“I was able to get better and improve because of the fighters in my division in the WEC. Now I’ve been able to have the opportunity to win the UFC championship. It’s awesome. There’s no words to explain it. It’s a dream come true. I thank God every day for it.