People said barao would've walked through Cruz pre-injury...

It's slightly different Dilla"Show" has a bit more power but Cruz may have more combos. Interesting fight none the less.
 
Was thinking the same after the fight. Although I think Cruz would win via UD rather than TKO. Cruz is very skilled but lacks power.
 
waynosaurus said:
Agree 100%. I always felt Cruz's style was bad news for anyone, and felt he'd take Barao if he came back healthy.
TJ was his mini-me tonight and dominated him.
Barao is a legit beast, but Cruz's style, now being incorporated by others, seems to be an evolution.
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That's a good point about Cruz's style becoming an evolution. For whatever reason, many "fans" refuse to recognize just how great Cruz was. However, other fighters clearly get it, as evidenced by their open emulation of his footwork and style.

TJ was obviously emulating Cruz. Does this mean that Cruz would absolutely beat Barao? No. But it certainly suggests that Cruz's footwork and movement is a nightmare for Barao. TJ seems to have a bit more pop than Cruz had. However, what has gotten lost in this debate is Cruz's wrestling. Time and again he proved that he had the best wrestling in the lower divisions, seamlessly transitioning from striking to grappling. I'd definitely make prime Cruz a favorite against Barao. I also think he'd coast to a victory over TJ.
 
Still think Barao beats Cruz.
 
C0NCH3TO said:
Barao is a pretty good fighter but nothing close to what uncle Dana was selling.
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He was and is much better than 'pretty good'. Barao is an amazing fighter. I've always believed Cruz was better, but Barao beat a number of excellent BW fighters. Interested to see how he comes back from this.

FYI I never bought into the 'Barao is top 3 P4P' BS either. I just think it's possible for him to be amazing but still have lost to a rampaging Dillashaw.
 
Cruz was among the elite of the elite. I never understood why he was written off so quickly. No one could even touch him before the injury.

Now that Dillashaw pretty much used Cruz style to dominate Barao it's even more clearc that Cruz was written too quickly.
 
TheComebackKid said:
Cruz was among the elite of the elite. I never understood why he was written off so quickly. No one could even touch him before the injury.
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Because he didn't have big power and didn't finish fights. That's why people under-rated him. Never mind that he was almost never hit, rarely hurt, controlled guys with his wrestling incredibly well...
 
ajmonsta said:
Seriously, does anyone think that now? I think most of it was some people don't know how good Cruz was before the injury. Dude has the best footwork, head movement, and boxing in the division but after bring out so long people kind of forgot how good he was.

If Cruz comes back and is remotely close to his old form, I have no doubt he beats barao, or whoever has the belt at the time.

Hats off to Dillashaw for proving the naysayers wrong and believing in himself and putting on the performance of a lifetime. Cruz will be back tho, and if he handles the layoff well, no one will beat him.
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Some people said that. Most knew enough to know that if Cruz was somewhere close to 100% he'd be a handful for Barao.
 
Bargey said:
Some people said that. Most knew enough to know that if Cruz was somewhere close to 100% he'd be a handful for Barao.
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I don't know. I think a lot of people wrote him off when he got hurt and started drinking the barao cool aid.
 
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GrindingANARCHY said:
Barao will be back with vengeance. This loss will make him alot better.
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He definitely will. Not taking away anything from barao, I just think people forgot or some new fans don't know how good Cruz is. I can't wait to see how he looks when he comes back.
 
I thought that Cruz was a tough match up to begin with
 
FightsFTW said:
Was thinking the same after the fight. Although I think Cruz would win via UD rather than TKO. Cruz is very skilled but lacks power.
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Cruz can crack people with good counterpunches from time to time, but his footwork is what mitigates his power. Sometimes he doesn't even travel in the same direction that he's striking like with his bizarre angling right hand he does, and more often than not he compromises his own position by placing himself in a weak stance (with his feet underneath him, as if he is standing in an elevator) or simply moves too much to just set his weight and punch.
 
At one time Cruz was one of the most intelligent, hard working, physically gifted men in MMA and it showed. He would be a handful for anyone at 135, period.

I still believe in his ability, but it is his physical limitations that might fail him now. I would have loved to see him fight Barao both at 100% and superfight with Jose Aldo. Whatever happens now, even if he never recovers from his injuries, I'll be rooting for him.
 
ajmonsta said:
He definitely will. Not taking away anything from barao, I just think people forgot or some new fans don't know how good Cruz is. I can't wait to see how he looks when he comes back.
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Is your sig bet forever?
 
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