Cruz's style on avoiding damage in a fight is great for his longevity. It allows him the freedom from getting punched into retardation like other fighters. Considering he came into it with an analyst mind means he not only started a lot sharper than the "fighters" of the sport, but he stays sharper. Problem is, fighters (and a lot of fight fans) are really fucking stupid, so his cutting wit, which probably is better than almost all other fighters, might as well be trying to slice a brick wall. Doesn't matter when he baits Faber into a logic problem and gets him to admit something stupid when the normal fighter doesn't even register when they do something stupid, so it's pretty ineffective on anyone who doesn't have the emotional control equivalent of a middle school girl; i.e., Cody Garbrandt.