The odds are in his favor, even though former UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz hasn’t stepped inside the Octagon in almost three years.
At UFC 178 he will face Takeya Mizugaki, who may not be his toughest opponent to date, but it will be a test to see if he’s still got what it takes to once again become the 135-pound champion.
For the first time in his UFC career, in fact for the first time since WEC 40 in 2009, Cruz will be on the preliminary portion of the fight card. This takes a ton of pressure off him, as he will now only fight three rounds and also is able to stand on the scale at 136-pounds rather than the championship weight of 135-pounds. But make one thing clear, the world ‘preliminary’ doesn’t mean lower caliber to Cruz — especially when he is going to be seen in 90-million plus homes.
“I was thinking about that since I’ve been here [Las Vegas]. You’re going to chop two rounds off this fight and you’re going to give me an extra pound,” Cruz told Sucka Radio. “That alone right there feels like a gift. You’re going to see a special fight on Saturday night because of that and I’m looking forward to it.”
“The prelims it doesn’t bother me. I’m going to be seen in 90-million plus homes. The prelims is just a word; that’s just a word that people equate to a lower level. Which it couldn’t be more false. When you’re seen in 90-million plus homes, how is that a prelim? That’s more than a main event in 99% of MMA right now. It’s on FOX, that’s where the NFL is seen. That’s where the biggest shows in the world are seen on. There’s nothing preliminary about that. Prelims is just because that’s how good the pay-per-view really is.”
The UFC title itself is the absolute goal for anyone that fights in the sport of MMA, but coming off of a three-year hiatus due to an injury could make a fighter want to shake the rust off with a couple of fights before stepping up against the champion — not Cruz.
“I think if you lined up every 135-pound fighter on the planet earth right now, every single fighter would say, yeah after this fight I deserve a title shot, give me a title shot, let me get one.”
A few weeks back UFC President Dana White said that if Georges St-Pierre were to return, he would have a tough time not giving him an immediate shot at the UFC welterweight champion. Cruz was not shocked by this, as White did give him the option, but going from a five round title fight to a three round bout is like a major change in the work week — especially coming off rehab.
“Dana gave me the option; he told me I could jump right back in there for a title shot,” Cruz said to Sucka Radio. “I tried to jump right back in there for a title shot and I blew my quad out, the quad ripped off the bone. I just wasn’t ready for a five round workload on my body after that long of a layoff.”
“People don’t understand that going from doing rehab into a five round title fight, the type of wear and tear that goes into a five round preparation and the type of shape that I need to be in for my style and the way that I fight. It’s an insane amount of work that people can’t even comprehend how much work goes into it, except other fighters. The best way I can equate it is, it’s like going from 60 hours a week to 30 hours a week. That’s the type of work difference that I’m talking about when you’re getting ready in a camp. So I’m doing my 30 hours a week of work and then I could jump right back into those 60 hours a week pretty soon, I’ve just got to go out there and showcase what I can do.”
Having not fought since October 2011, one would think Cruz would be itching to get back inside the Octagon as quickly as he could following this bout against Mizugaki, especially if he comes up with a win. “The Dominator” however, has his sights set only on his Japanese opponent.
“I just really want to look at this fight. I don’t know what’s going to happen; I know I’m going to go out there and win, but I’m fighting three rounds with a guy who’s literally trying to rip the head off of my body. You really don’t want to look past that. Let me just focus on Mizugaki right now and after this fight you can ask me that question and I’ll answer it as many times as everyone wants.”
Even though Cruz is on the “prelims” there is a ton of weight on his shoulders and this fight against Mizugaki will prove if the Alliance MMA fighter is ready to make that next step to reclaiming the gold that was never actually taken from him.
