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The Henry that fought Cruz could beat anyone
What concerns me about the Cruz fight is Merab's cardio. He won't get tired of chasing Cruz and without KO power, I can see Merab straight up rushing into clinches and not letting go but then again, Prime Cruz, like you said, was a different fighter and he would be levels faster than Merab. He also had great wrestling and scrambles off his own.It's worth noting that the Cruz who (barely) beat TJ had only fought once in the previous 4 year and already had ACL injuries/surgery. The prime, young Cruz had speed and footwork than Merab has never seen. Of course he didn't have TJ or Aldo's power, so there was no KO threat. But I think it would be tricky to TD or corner Cruz very much. I think it would be a fascinating and tough fight for both prime Cruz and Merab if they fought each other. It wouldn't be a "just bleed" fight where someone got finished, though.
Size matters, even between flyweight and BW. Cruz beat DJ at BW...then DJ moved down to flyweight where he dominated for years.He's a tough matchup for all. But he's too undersized at bantamweight to be a dominant champ.
Henry’s olympic achievment has somehow been transposed over his MMA career. Defending champ champ is cool and all, but if we cross examine his MMA career:
-Splitty city over Demtrious. There should have been a rubber match. Great win, but hotly contested.
-Moraes went 1-7 after Henry beat him. Not sure what happened there, but he clearly lost the “magic” after Henry beat him. Fair play to Henry, but that win hasn’t aged well.
-TJ looked like he was on death’s doorstep. Had no busniess at FLW.
-Dom shouldn’t have even gotten the TS. He was way past prime at this point, and fresh off a loss to necktat.
None of this is Henry’s fault; he can only fight who’s put in front of him. To the OP; no version of him beats Aljo or Merab, or prime Cruz. I also think that prime TJ at BW smokes him.
I do think a younger Henry beats Song, though. He was losing that fight, clearly, but he was in it. I don’t need them to run it back, but Henry may have been able to pull something off in the champ rounds.
This, probablySong and Sterling, yeah imo.
Merab gives him hell at any point. It's a unique matchup and someone whose pace Henry can't match.