How effective is cruz's style against similar sized or taller guys

Ar145984

Ar145984

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Curious, does his style suffer greatly from a change in height or reach disadvantage? Or can it be altered to still be effective?
 
He did pretty well against Mighty Mouse.....

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I could be wrong but I don't think he's ever fought anyone taller than him. But he did dominate MM.
 
Mizugaki is only an inch shorter than Cruz.

And he gave Cruz the fight of his life.
 
He pretty much summed it up in the post fight show for UFC 202, when he said that the name of the game is to not get hit, which he is very good at.

His take downs, dart punches, movement, fakes, feints, and endurance all factor in to that basic fundamental of not getting hit. In other words, not being a target for too long, while always threatening the game-changing take down.

I believe that Dominick can take McGregor. He'd lure Connor into take downs off the left hand shot, or the power leg kick Connor added, with his speed, angles, timing, and foot work. Once down, Dom would beat him back up, and repeat the process as long as it took to finish or decisionator McGregor.

Dom's weakness is that he lacks power shots, which is why he'd have to get Connor down, side ride, and punch the shit out of him, as Connor tried to get back up, a la Dom's fight versus Mizugaki.
 
JimmyFresno said:
He pretty much summed it up in the post fight show for UFC 202, when he said that the name of the game is to not get hit, which he is very good at.

His take downs, dart punches, movement, fakes, feints, and endurance all factor in to that basic fundamental of not getting hit. In other words, not being a target for too long, while always threatening the game-changing take down.

I believe that Dominick can take McGregor. He'd lure Connor into take downs off the left hand shot, or the power leg kick Connor added, with his speed, angles, timing, and foot work. Once down, Dom would beat him back up, and repeat the process as long as it took to finish or decisionator McGregor.

Dom's weakness is that he lacks power shots, which is why he'd have to get Connor down, side ride, and punch the shit out of him, as Connor tried to get back up, a la Dom's fight versus Mizugaki.
Click to expand...


But dom gets tagged sometimes too, and conor is probably the hardest hitter in 145 and certainly harder than the 135ers. Conor also has a very long reach for his division. If conor tagged dom he wouldnt wait for a stand up he would go for the finish.
 
JimmyFresno said:
He pretty much summed it up in the post fight show for UFC 202, when he said that the name of the game is to not get hit, which he is very good at.

His take downs, dart punches, movement, fakes, feints, and endurance all factor in to that basic fundamental of not getting hit. In other words, not being a target for too long, while always threatening the game-changing take down.

I believe that Dominick can take McGregor. He'd lure Connor into take downs off the left hand shot, or the power leg kick Connor added, with his speed, angles, timing, and foot work. Once down, Dom would beat him back up, and repeat the process as long as it took to finish or decisionator McGregor.

Dom's weakness is that he lacks power shots, which is why he'd have to get Connor down, side ride, and punch the shit out of him, as Connor tried to get back up, a la Dom's fight versus Mizugaki.
Click to expand...
Dom's problem is that he's frail and has little power, and a glass body.

That's like the worst combo for fighting bigger guys. McGregor wrecks him
 
he used to fight at 145 and he only ever lost once there
 
JimmyFresno said:
He pretty much summed it up in the post fight show for UFC 202, when he said that the name of the game is to not get hit, which he is very good at.

His take downs, dart punches, movement, fakes, feints, and endurance all factor in to that basic fundamental of not getting hit. In other words, not being a target for too long, while always threatening the game-changing take down.

I believe that Dominick can take McGregor. He'd lure Connor into take downs off the left hand shot, or the power leg kick Connor added, with his speed, angles, timing, and foot work. Once down, Dom would beat him back up, and repeat the process as long as it took to finish or decisionator McGregor.

Dom's weakness is that he lacks power shots, which is why he'd have to get Connor down, side ride, and punch the shit out of him, as Connor tried to get back up, a la Dom's fight versus Mizugaki.
Click to expand...
name of the game is to fight manlets with trex arms
 
Ar145984 said:
But dom gets tagged sometimes too, and conor is probably the hardest hitter in 145 and certainly harder than the 135ers. Conor also has a very long reach for his division. If conor tagged dom he wouldnt wait for a stand up he would go for the finish.
Click to expand...

Very good point. Connor has dynamite in that straight left, he's very accurate with it, and has a million ways to land it. I think Dom's potential upcoming fight vs Garbrandt is very dangerous for Dom, for that reason you listed.

Connor's coach said on the MMA Hour, along with Dillon Danis, that they had worked take down defense like no tomorrow for Connor's camp vs Nate. That work will pay dividends for Connor as time goes on.

Cruz would have the threat of the take down to make Connor hesitate a little, but the take down would have to be a corner stone in Cruz's game plan vs Connor is they ever fought, or against any other larger man. Luckily for Dom, his work, and study have paid him dividends over the years, which allows him to get the take down at a moment's notice.
 
superpunch said:
Dom's problem is that he's frail and has little power, and a glass body.

That's like the worst combo for fighting bigger guys. McGregor wrecks him
Click to expand...

It would be the first time Cruz got finished by anything other than a submission, but you make a good arguement for Connor. I hope we get to see that fight someday. [Or even a Mighty Mouse Johnson rematch, as I think Demetrious could get the win, this time.]
 
Being that he has 1 loss, to the shorter Urijah Faber. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say he fares pretty well.
 
he's so varied (punches, kicks, angles, takedowns), I don't see how being bigger/taller would automatically stop his style. he can make 135 pounds so the 135 lb division will have to deal with it. George Roop is tall and doesn't find the same success and Cruz would annihilate Roop.
 
Ar145984 said:
But dom gets tagged sometimes too, and conor is probably the hardest hitter in 145 and certainly harder than the 135ers. Conor also has a very long reach for his division. If conor tagged dom he wouldnt wait for a stand up he would go for the finish.
Click to expand...

superpunch said:
Dom's problem is that he's frail and has little power, and a glass body.

That's like the worst combo for fighting bigger guys. McGregor wrecks him
Click to expand...

I think that he can win against Conor, if that is what you guys are wondering about.

Truth to be told, Cruz's style is most favorable against shorter(reach) fighters, the constant movement, together with his counters, which generates a natural shield around him, which can be really hard for a shorter fighter to predict and penetrate. However, I believed that his style will be almost as equally effective against taller opponents as well. Let us not forget, he doesn't just darts out of the way, he slips and rips really well too.

Against taller fighters, especially those with longer reach, I think that slipping their strikes would be Cruz's priority, instead of mostly darting out of the way. In turn, he would be countering with loads of followup flurries as his primary offence(a la his fight against TJ), before darting away or level changing for a takedown. Much more dangerous? Yes, however, a taller fighter usually means a slower fighter too, which means that he would have more time than he usually has to react and execute his counters. In addition, since he'll be spending so much time inside of his opponent's reach, his takedowns(i.e. knee tap; like I have mentioned before) would be there all day as well, and if his opponent managed to defend against it? He is still one of, if not THE best, at mixing things up inside the octagon.

In short, his style would still work very effectively against taller opponents, and yes, it could be a more dangerous fight, as one of his striking defense mechanism would be removed from his arsenal. Still, Cruz, given his cerebral approach to fighting, is still one of the best in the world at readjusting to his opponent mid-fight; He can adapt, and most probably, overcome all of his future opponents, no matter what kind of style he brings to the table.

To be honest, I feel that he will only starts losing when age, or his injuries, catches up to him.

#cruzblessed
 
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