T.J. Dillashaw doesn’t go ‘WWE route’ in bout with Dominick Cruz
To call the buildup to Sunday’s Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight title bout between champion T.J. Dillashaw and former champ Dominick Cruz a war of words would demonstrate quite a lack of understanding of the term “war.”
It’s more like a one-sided military campaign rampaging through a disinterested enemy force.
Cruz is lobbing missiles and flying sorties as Dillashaw just watches the chaos happen all around.
“I’m just not one of those guys,” Dillashaw said on a conference call of his disinterest in verbally sparring with Cruz before their UFC Fight Night 81 bout at TD Garden in Boston.
“You have to laugh it off,” Dillashaw said. “Just let him talk crap and look like an idiot. It all just comes down to the night of the fight.”
Cruz said promoting the fight is a big part of the job, especially fighters at the championship level and thinks one day Dillashaw will understand that.
In the end, however, he knows all that matters is what happens in the cage.
“Talking is just talking. The fight is totally different. He’s the type of guy that would rather fight than talk and I think that’s just because he’s not that smart,” Cruz said, unable to fight off the urge to get in another jab. “It doesn’t mean he won’t be ready to fight on that day.”
That comment finally appeared to bother Dillashaw.
“It’s funny that Dom likes to say that I don’t talk crap because I’m not very smart, but I’m the one with a college degree,” the champion said. “It’s just that I’m a martial artist and I like to show respect. I’m not one of these guys that’s gonna do the WWE or Conor McGregor route just to make money.
“I want to look back on my career and know that I made the right choices and portrayed myself the way I wanted to be portrayed. I’m not going to look like a jackass.”
A win over Cruz would almost certainly thrust Dillashaw into a circuslike atmosphere for his next fight as it would likely mean a matchup with Urijah Faber.
Dillashaw and Faber had a falling out last year when Dillashaw announced he would follow coach Duane Ludwig to a new gym in Colorado. Ludwig had been the head coach for the Faber-led Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, Calif., before they parted ways.
Dillashaw says he had still hoped to be a part of the team when he was in town, but that Faber banned him from the gym. Several members of the team have spent time training with Dillashaw for this fight in Colorado.
“With me and Faber, that surprised me the way he’s been acting,” Dillashaw said. “Because I’m cool with all the guys and really that’s just a way for him to push for a title fight. For him to make some money. I’ve done nothing but show respect. I don’t go out there and talk crap about Urijah and there’s plenty to talk about. I’m just gonna continue to be a humble guy and appreciate what he did for me in this sport.”
Cruz has had a long-standing rivalry with Faber and Team Alpha Male. He said just because Dillashaw left the gym doesn’t mean he’s not still part of the team.
“You can dress up a turd, but it still stinks,” Cruz said. “He’s still a Team Alpha Male guy, he’s still got those guys training with him. He’s still one of them. He’s still a jock. He’s still a meathead. He’s still not very bright and he still uses a lot of the fundamentals those guys use.”
Cruz has won 11 straight fights since his only career loss, a first-round submission by Faber in 2007. He never lost the bantamweight belt in the cage, but was stripped of the title in 2014 when he missed three years due to a series of injuries.
He returned in September 2014 with a 61-second knockout of Takeya Mizugaki, only to tear his ACL again a month later.
Dillashaw said he’s not expecting Cruz to miss a beat, despite fighting just once in the last four years.
“He’s a very tough challenge. He’s a great fighter,” Dillashaw said. “You can’t underestimate him because he’s been out. He’s been on top for a reason. I just feel I continue to grow and I believe I’m the better fighter. I’ve watched him from the beginning and I believe I have the better skills.”
The event, which also includes a lightweight contender bout between Eddie Alvarez and former champion Anthony Pettis, will air live on Fox Sports 1 at 7 p.m.
* NAC MEETING — A pair of major MMA items are on the agenda for today’s 9 a.m. meeting of the Nevada Athletic Commission.
The complex cases of both Wanderlei Silva and Nick Diaz are expected to take up the lion’s share of the time.
Diaz was suspended for five years by the commission after failing a test due to marijuana metabolites for the third time in his career. The case was particularly bizarre considering Diaz was tested three times on fight night and only the second of the three samples came back positive.
The steep penalty drew the ire of fellow fighters and fans, prompting a petition to the White House that got over 100,000 signatures. The NAC and Diaz’s lawyers have been in settlement negotiations to amend the penalty.
Silva was issued a lifetime ban by the NAC after he evaded a drug test in 2014. A Nevada judge threw out the penalty and ordered a new disciplinary hearing. The meeting, which takes place at the Grant Sawyer Building and is open to the public, will stream live on UFC Fight Pass, the organization’s online subscription service.
— Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamilllvrj
