Former UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz defeated UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson at UFC On Versus 6.
Cruz has also fought current UFC Bantamweight Champion Cody Garbrandt and former bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw. According to Cruz, the flyweight champion could defeat Garbarndt and Dillashaw inside of the Octagon.
“With all those reasons and the style that he (Mighty Mouse) fights, I think that he’d be too quick for both T.J. and Cody,” Cruz said on The MMA Hour. “Now, do I think that they have more power and are stronger than him? Yes. But after watching the way Demetrious fought Wilson (Reis), you can see the difference in, he can change his style up according to each style that he faces and make the best win scenario for himself. And that’s something I’ve focused on my whole career. And I think that the speed he has and how tough he is to hit, and the fact that Cody or T.J. don’t really wrestle or grapple at all in their fights, I think that makes a good match-up for Demetrious. Now, real quick, T.J. did grapple his last fight, right? We saw him take down (John) Lineker and grind him out. The problem is, Lineker’s a stationary, power-throwing target. Demetrious Johnson moves his feet, flows nonstop, never stops moving, never sits still. The takedowns won’t be there the same. He’s much quicker than Lineker, so that would be the problem with those two gentlemen trying to wrestle Demetrious; whereas, me, I have a different gameplan when I fight that guy, and I’ll never give it away.”
The only one of those three fighters that Cruz hasn’t defeated is Garbrandt, who defeated Cruz at UFC 207 to win the UFC Bantamweight Title.
Another huge difference between Johnson and the other two men Cruz mentioned is that Cruz considers Mighty Mouse one of the nicest people in the UFC.
“I love the guy. I do,” Cruz said. “I think that he’s probably one of the nicest human beings I’ve ever known in my entire life, and I have nothing but respect for him. There’s not a lot of people who I’ve fought that are still cool with me after I fight them, but certain people are. He’s one of them. We have a mutual respect, me and that guy. It doesn’t mean we won’t fight 10 times for you people out there watching, but it does mean that there’s respect there. Now, other people, we don’t really get along like that. Me and Cody just can’t get along like that. Every time I talk to him, he tries to challenge me, and I can’t give him a second so I’ve got to challenge him back. Next thing you know, he’s throwing a temper tantrum. So it doesn’t work with guys like Cody. It only works with guys like Demetrious, who are level-headed, calm, cool, collected, see the bigger picture. And that’s the one thing I like about him and that’s why he’s been such a dominant champion. He doesn’t get emotionally overridden ever. He stays very calm and he’s always good.”
While he hasn’t competed since losing the title at UFC 207, the former bantamweight champion has challenged the winner of the UFC Bantamweight Title Fight taking place at UFC 213.
