There are a lot of potential fights that Dominick Cruz might have to prepare after his impressive MMA win against T.J. Dillashaw. There’s a possibility that he might face Raphael Assuncao or Urijah Faber. He might even face T.J. Dillashaw in another epic rematch.
However, there’s one person who is probably more interested to fight him compared to others- one of the top pound-for-pound MMA fighters, Demetrious Johnson.
After Cruz won over Dillashaw and finally got his bantamweight belt back last Sunday during UFC Fight Nigh 81, D.J.’s coach called out the new bantamweight champ to face Johnson next.
“Well, well, things just got interesting. Time to talk about an appointment with an old friend and some unfinished business. Mighty Mouse!,” Hume said.
When asked about what he thinks on possibly going up against Johnson next, Cruz revealed that he isn’t thinking twice about taking the challenge.
“D.J. is a beast. I think D.J. would run circles around T.J. and Urijah. But I think that I could put it on D.J., too, again. Just like I did last time,” Cruz said during a recent interview with FOX Sports.
Cruz, who is now holding a record of 21-1, was able to win over Johnson by unanimous decision almost five years ago during the UFC Live and was able to get a hold of his bantamweight title longer. Events after unfortunately didn’t go down as what Cruz had expected. Cruz had a series of injuries he had to endure and had to stay on the sidelines for a long time. In fact, this fight against Dillashaw is his second fight in almost half a decade. Johnson, on the other hand, went down to the flyweight division and has managed to win every fight he faced- a total of nine straight fights to be exact. He even received an inaugural title to acknowledge his achievements.
“I shut D.J. out last time. I made his face look like he had a pile of cheese in the cheek. I gave him a good knee to the face that rocked him. I beat him striking because of the knee and I was able to outwrestle him. Demetrious Johnson is a legitimate champion. I still believe I’m better,” Cruz said.
Johnson had just started training with his coach, Matt Hume, when he went against Cruz back. Today, “Mighty Mouse” is obviously a different MMA fighter compared before. However, it’s not easy to see how much he was able to improve his skills and how he would perform when he is at 135 pounds since he is a bit small for the weight class mentioned.
Conor McGregor, who now the UFC featherweight champ, is going up the weight division to face Rafael dos Anjos this coming March. With this rather impossible fight, it looks like the UFC is now more open to host superfights compared before. This might actually make way for Cruz vs Johnson to actually happen.
As for Cruz, he revealed that he just wants to enjoy his achievement for now. After enduring the series of injuries in the past, “The Dominator” is finally able to get back on his feet and get the MMA title that he actually never lost.
“Look at all these people chomping at the bit to take out a guy who has one minute of fighting in four years. I guess I gotta pay myself on the back, huh? Everyone wants to kill me already. I’m back,” Cruz added.