D. Cruz hasn't fought since December 2016. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram @dominickcruz
After becoming two-time Ultimate champion (flies and roosters), Henry Cejudo became a machine gun of challenges. Day after day, the athlete finds a supposed opponent to share the octagon in a possible title fight. One of the last targets was Dominick Cruz, who responded positively to the 'Triple C' proposal, and criticized Henry, stating that the title holder is too immature for the sport. The statements were made in an interview with 'Ariel Helwani MMA Show'.
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“The things he did in sports, you have to take your hat off, but in wrestling. However, in mixed martial arts, he is still very green, very young and very outspoken,” Cruz said.
The athlete also took the opportunity to criticize the way Cejudo was shaped by his coaches over the years. For him, the fighter is a product taught only to win and would never know how to deal with defeat.
“This guy has been supported his entire life because his coaches, all along, saw him as a super athlete. So they got him out of trouble and took care of him. They spoiled him, they rocked him. He came straight from college to the Olympic center and competed in wrestling,” said Dominick.
The work of the 'Triple C' technicians, however, had an effect. The fighter is the only athlete in history to hold an Ultimate title and, to top it off, have an Olympic medal on his chest. The North American won a medal for the United States at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, in the Wrestling modality.
For Cruz, however, the athlete does not know the real meaning of the word 'competition'. The former champion claims that titles are not everything for a professional athlete and that his rival will have to learn how to live without his belts.
"Henry Cejudo is a gold medalist. That's all he knows. So, that's all you ever hear from him is what he won. If you take away the gold medal, the UFC belt, what would you hear Henry Cejudo say who he is? For whom does it make a difference? What is your purpose here? I think that’s what makes it such a confusing entity to the world,” he said.
The former champion then said that he is willing to let Cejudo know the other side of the sport. Dominick says that athletes need to learn that it's not just titles that matter.
“He doesn’t know who he is without winning a competition. So, after I defeat him, he will stay on this issue for a while. The difficulty is hiding what he doesn’t know how to be, which is himself”, concluded the North American.
Cruz has not fought since he lost his division belt in 2016, when he was beaten by his compatriot, cody garbrandt, in December 2016. The athlete, who was once one of the most dominant fighters in the division, could return to the Octagon to try to prove himself superior to the current title holder.
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