Daniel Cormier is giving his assessment on the fight between Dominick Cruz and Marlon Vera that went down at UFC on ESPN 41.
Cormier has been around the fight game for a long time. As a former two-division champion and now as a commentator, he sees things in fighters that most won’t. On his show DC & RC, he gave his thoughts on the bantamweight fight between Cruz and Vera and spoke a bit about what the future might hold for the former champion, Cruz.
This fight was a big one in the UFC bantamweight division. The winner would set themselves up nicely for a possible title shot. The winner on Saturday night was Vera who defeated Cruz with a kick to the face. Afterward, Vera was critical of Cruz and his fighting style. He believed he no longer has a style that was conducive to MMA today. Cormier addressed this accusation in his ESPN show.
“I think it’s wrong because Ryan, anyone that watched the fight saw that he was winning. So it’s not like it wasn’t working. I think that that’s not why Dominic lost the fight. I think what’s failing Dominic right now is the ability to take shots,” Cormier said. “I think so much is lost, in terms of Dominick Cruz’s footwork being what was ultimately his biggest asset. But he was also very tough and you saw it in the fight when he would just throw those long combinations, stand in front of Marlon Vera and go toe-to-toe with him. But the reality is, he doesn’t have a style that’s outdated, it still will allow for him to get out ahead of most people.”
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Daniel Cormier ponders if it might be time for Dominick Cruz to hang up his gloves
Cruz is the former champion at 135 pounds but has been the victim of multiple injuries throughout his career. He has had several multi-year absences from the cage dealing with knee and arm injuries. Since his last outage, he has had four fights and won two of them. He is now 37 years old and perhaps the end of the road might be nearing.
“Unfortunately, it seems as though he’s not going to beat the very best, because that’s what Chito Vera is right now, he’s one of the very best bantamweights in the world,” Cormier said. “I guess that’s why Dominick Cruz can’t get past that anymore. But I think it’s a bit of a wrong assessment by Chito, who is a very smart guy, but in terms of the fight career, it’s one of those times where we got to start thinking maybe the clock has struck 12, and it’s almost time to move on.”
Cruz himself might not be ready to end his fighting career. Following the loss, he sent a message to fans stating that he will be back on the desk soon and gave a good indication that his days inside the Octagon were not through yet.
Watch the full video here:
