Did Cruz get old or was he figured out?

[Substance Abuse]

There's a lot of shit answers in this thread, lol.

 

[Ace70 V2]

He got old
But his body was failing him before that. Only Cody figured him our. Everone else had time on their side. In my opinion.

 

[LindyBrah]

Everyone talks about his footwork but all I ever saw over the past several years was shit footwork. Dude basically just did a figure '8' for his circling and everyone says he some foot god. Don't really remember much of his early fights when he was in his actual prime. Prob same type of movement.

It won him six title fights, and he was getting hit under a 30 percent clip. I’d say it functioned well.

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

His style is really for a young guy, he is too old now and way too inactive. It will only get worse for him the older he gets.

 

[SalvadorAllende]

He got figured out then Cody shared the cheat code with the world.

Yeah.. I enjoyed that fight. Cruz was an overrated pillowfisted pointfighter.

 

[corrupted]

3 things.
He got old and had a lot of bad injuries during his career.
His game DID kinda get figured out but what made it worse for him is that people incorporated things he was doing in to their game.
And peope got better

 

[Masturbin]

Not sure I agree with the idea that his style does not work if he slows down like Tony.

Even now, he manages to make it kind of work.
He still a great round winner.

Currently, I think he beats a lot of guys at 135.
He can beat Marlon, Munhoz and in a 3 rounder with a bit of luck he could beat Dong.

 

[BangBang]

Don’t disrespect the bantamweight goat.

 

[Uber_Noober]

Yeah.. I enjoyed that fight. Cruz was an overrated pillowfisted pointfighter.

I was wanting Cruz to win, wasn’t a big fan of anything from TAM at the time. But it have it give credit where it’s due, Cody put on the performance of a lifetime that night.

 

[TerraRayzing]

Don’t disrespect the bantamweight goat.

Cruz is one of my all time favorite fighters and I think Prime Cruz would be champion today. The injuries messed up what should been an all time GOAT career.

 

[Streeter]

He got old
But his body was failing him before that. Only Cody figured him our. Everone else had time on their side. In my opinion.

Don't know if Cody figured him out or he slowed enough due to injuries an age to start to get timed. Could tell in fights leading to Cody he wasn't the same and didn't have same quickness. Like mentioned with his style dependent on quickness it was matter of time

 

[CrimsonFan]

I think even more than age it was the injuries.

He was able to come back and win the belt again, but his wrestling never looked the same. Dom from WEC days would have thrown Cody and Chito around IMO

 

[NicholasJBasile]

I'm thinking a mix of both. He never really had a ton of power to begin with which doesn't help his cause. He has still looked good this late in his career though.

 

[Substance Abuse]

Got old faster due to a litany of injuries that would have ended the career of many a fighter (torn ACLs, broken hands, and more). Still somehow came back after years off and won his title back despite not being the same. He ends up losing to Garbrandt after Team Alpha Male spent a decade trying to decipher Cruz' style and find a way to beat him, culminating in that loss. He's one of, if not the best Bantamweight of all time. He's overcome a career of setbacks to redeem himself and reclaim his belt. He's still competitive even though he's been through the ringer physically and is old as dirt in health, fight mileage and lower weight class age...

And some people think it's just him being figured out.

Suredawg gonna Suredawg.

 

[fortheo]

People spent years studying his game while he simultaneously declined, so a mixture of both is my answer. Anyone who is acting like age and injuries aren't a huge part of it are ridiculous.

 

[DarthChen731]

When a team of manlets dedicates 10 years to specifically beating you and you tear your ACL like 17 times in that span then yeah, one of them is gonna get you eventually.

 

[Goutfather]

it was the injuries first. age second. nobody ever figured him out. only fighter he maybe couldn’t beat in his prime is the cody that showed up on that night. maybe.

 

[NoStoneUnturned]

Below are his list of injuries from wikipedia. In a nutshell. Torn ACL, complications from the original surgery so another surgery on that ACL. Then torn groin which required three years away. Then tore his other ACL. Rough.

In December 2011, Cruz was selected to coach The Ultimate Fighter: Live against opposing coach Urijah Faber.[39] The rubber match between Cruz and Faber was expected to take place on July 7, 2012, at UFC 148.[40] However, on May 7, 2012, Cruz was forced to pull out of the bout citing a torn ACL.

On December 3, 2012, it was revealed that Cruz underwent another ACL surgery after his body rejected one from a cadaver, with an expected recovery time of six to nine months.

Cruz was scheduled to make his return on February 1, 2014, at UFC 169 in a unification bout with interim UFC Bantamweight Champion Renan Barão.[43] However, on a January 6 episode of SportsCenter, UFC president Dana White announced that Dominick Cruz had torn his groin and vacated the UFC Bantamweight Championship; White promoted Barão to undisputed UFC Bantamweight Champion, and announced that Barão's first unified title defense would be against Urijah Faber at UFC 169.

Subsequently, on December 22, 2014, Cruz indicated that he had torn the ACL in his other knee, which sidelined him through 2015.

 

[CatchtheseHands]

Injuries and time out. Plus he's kinda old for the weight class now.

 

[StonedLemur]

Tearing an ACL is rough enough in itself but when you combine it with his fighting style it's basically a career death sentence.

And he's torn both of them, one right after the other.
Not to mention he has Plantar Fasciitis in both feet from his footwork.

Still the BW GOAT in my eyes though sir.