Media Dominick Cruz Footwork Appreciation Thread

Now the coup de grâce, for those who have made it to the second page.

Cruz performing the Dempsey shift, but with a kick at the end.

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Man he hasn’t been tested enough , he beat a lot of 125ers. But he did rock Cody a few times
 
theblackknight said:
You don’t watch mma if that’s the worst thing you have ever seen welcome to the sport
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Didn't say worst, I said ugliest. And before you reply, I didn't say it wasn't effective either.
 
This is an art. Cruz is the only man in UFC history who innovates martial arts (eventually Royce Gracie could be the another one), all these other fighters are just automatic learners. Cruz tries new forms and methods. That's why he's ahead of everyone.
 
Btw, Dom Cruz is the most studied MMA fighter on the planet Earth ever. All these bums were chasing him.
 
I really don't see a science behind his foot work. I mean it works for his defence, but so does for Elias Theodorou, they just move a lot. He doesn't use his feet to make his punches have more momentum, he just jumps around and awkwardly waves his hands. It's working though, weird!
 
Fossor said:
I really don't see a science behind his foot work. I mean it works for his defence, but so does for Elias Theodorou, they just move a lot. He doesn't use his feet to make his punches have more momentum, he just jumps around and awkwardly waves his hands. It's working though, weird!
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Yeah those "jiu-jitsu" guys just hug guys on the ground and then somehow their opponents just give up. Weird!
 
dawzz said:
Yeah then Dom came close to killing faber in the third fight. It was a pleasure seeing Faber hit the deck like a bitch from a "pillow puncher"
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His fight against Faber wasn't that impressive. TJ, Cody, Marlon, and maybe Assuncao would have finished Faber inside 1-2 rounds like Barao did
 
elwani said:
Yeah those "jiu-jitsu" guys just hug guys on the ground and then somehow their opponents just give up. Weird!
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Well there is a science behind bajeyjey. There is also science behind Lomachenko and TJ foot work. With Dominic though it is a lot of luck, imo - didn't worked with Cody though.
 
Fossor said:
Well there is a science behind bajeyjey. There is also science behind Lomachenko and TJ foot work. With Dominic though it is a lot of luck, imo - didn't worked with Cody though.
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But did against TJ?

BTW these were Cruz's feet during the Cody match.
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Fossor said:
Do you agree though that his offence can be much better if he was using his footwork to drive the momentum? He is called pilow fisted for reason.
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I think he would throw with more power if he threw power punches, but I do not agree that his offense would be better. Offense is about beating your opponent and some would say doing so without getting hit. Power punches would do you all the good in the world if you can't hit anything, especially at bantamweight.

Also where comes this myth that Cruz is pillow fisted? The most dangerous punch is the one you don't see coming. Even though Cruz has not KO'd a lot of his opponents, a lot of his opponents have been knocked down by him (Jorgensen, Faber, Benavidez, etc.), and again very few people KO their opponents at bantamweight just because the weight.
 
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elwani said:
I think he would throw with more power if he threw power punches, but I do not agree that his offense would be better. Offense is about beating your opponent. Power punches would do you all the good in the world if you can't hit anything, especially at bantamweight.
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I was talking about momentum, not power punches, I.e. when you use your body to increase the power of a punch by moving it in the same direction as your punch. With Cruz though a lot of time he moves his body in one direction, while punches in another, so he uses the same ammount of energy, but without an effect.
elwani said:
Also where comes this myth that Cruz is pillow fisted? The most dangerous punch is the one you don't see coming. Even though Cruz has not KO'd a lot of his opponents, a lot of his opponents have been knocked out by him (Jorgensen, Faber, Benavidez, etc.), and again very few people KO their opponents at bantamweight just because the weight.
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Well it is what numbers say - most of his fights are decisions. Cody knocked almost all of his opponents, TJ and Moraes half.
 
elwani said:
I would also define "point fighting" as just "gaming the system", which to me means if you took away the rules and points, you would never win in a "real" fight using a "point fighting" method.

But that's exactly why I disagree that this is "point fighting". This is actually a great way to fight for real, especially against larger opponents. It ensures you won't get hit while constantly hitting them. In my own experience (boxing), you actually wear them out pretty quickly the heavier they are.

Again, keep in mind while Cruz hasn't knocked many people out, most fighters at bantamweight don't knock that many people out. It may have more to do with his weight than this style of fighting.
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TJ has won 5 title fights and has 5 finishes.
Cody won 1 by decision.
Barao won 4 has 3 finishes.
Cruz won 7, 1 finish which was due to a hand injury.

It's clearly his style is a huge factor.

His style has advantages, but TJ took what works and added to it making a better style.
 
Fossor said:
I was talking about momentum, not power punches, I.e. when you use your body to increase the power of a punch by moving it in the same direction as your punch. With Cruz though a lot of time he moves his body in one direction, while punches in another, so he uses the same ammount of energy, but without an effect.
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Ah, then I would definitely disagree. Cruz is almost always punching such that the power of his punches is helped by the momentum of his movement, not hindered by it. I'm too lazy to make GIFs just to illustrate this (some of the GIFs above already do), but let's consider some of Cruz's favorite punches.

One of his favorite punches is the left hook while weaving right. This is definitely helped by the momentum as he is punching right while his body is moving right. Similarly, another favorite punch is right hook while weaving left, for the same reason.

Another of his favorite punches is duck right then right uppercut while straightening. By ducking right, he's loading his right leg to push up, so he's dodging, but again his motion is perfect for adding power to his punch.

Another of his favorite punches is throwing a right while shifting backwards from orthodox to southpaw by moving his left foot back. Again his body is turning left, perfect for his right hook also moving left. Here's a GIF.

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Com'on, do you really think someone who's thought so much about fighting like Cruz would really punch against his movement?

Last of all you say TJ, Cody, and Moraes. TJ copied Cruz's style. Cody got beat easily twice by someone who copied Cruz's style. And Moraes has yet to even challenge for the title.
 
Andre Xiong said:
Huh? LoL he beat Dillashaw and didn’t lost to Garbrandt by as big a margin as it seems
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He basically drew with TJ.

It's the only fight I can recall where people decided missed punches was a scoring criteria.
 
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