Dominick Cruz praised for his objective commentary at UFC Vegas 32 despite the main event featuring arch-rival T. J. Dillashaw
Dominick Cruz acted as one of the color commentators at UFC Vegas 32 on Saturday night, headlined by T. J. Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen.
Jon Anik, who is usually present at most UFC events, took to Twitter after the event was over to commend the former bantamweight champion for his "objectively outstanding" commentary during the main event.
"Thought my guy @DominickCruz did an objectiely outstanding job calling that main event. Can't be easy when it's your divisional contemporaries and there is history/obvious stylistic similarities between you and them. Bravo!," Jon Anik wrote on Twitter.
Dominick Cruz joined Daniel Cormier at the color commentator's table along with Brendan Fitzgerald, who served as the leading mic for play-by-play commentary.
Dominick Cruz's presence as a color analyst at UFC Vegas 32 for T. J. Dillashaw's return to the octagon has its own greater significance because of the history they share. In what has been dubbed one of the greatest comebacks in MMA history, Dominick Cruz returned after an ACL tear recovery and faced T. J. Dillashaw in a title fight at UFC Fight Night 81.
'The Dominator' picked up a split decision victory and regained the UFC bantamweight title. Both Cruz and Dillashaw won Fight of the Night bonuses for the contest.
Dominick Cruz went on to defend his title against Urijah Faber next at UFC 199, completing their trilogy with a unanimous decision win. In the next fight, Cruz dropped it to Cody Garbrandt in his first defeat since 2007. He later revealed on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast that he was suffering from plantar fascia tendinitis throughout the camp.
Dominick Cruz praises T. J. Dillashaw for his UFC Vegas 32 gameplan
Dominick Cruz gave his former foe credit where it was due in his brief post-fight analysis of the bout. He said T. J. Dillashaw fought like a champion and adjusted his game according to what the fight required of him.
"The fight just ended. It was an amazing night. That main event was pretty epic. T. J. Dillashaw vs. Sandhagen delivered. I thought that Sandhagen did enough. He landed more strikes, he did what he needed to do. But also, T. J. was in the octagon controlling the takedowns, mixing it up, he generally does not always do that and he did that in this fight exactly the way he needed to like a champion. And he adjusted. Sandhagen did a great fight but he did not adjust the same as T. J. did, and that's why T. J. got the win," Dominick Cruz weighed in.
Dominick Cruz then went on to share his take on the co-main event between Raulian Paiva and Kyler Phillips that the former won via majority decision.