Media Thirty six minutes and fifty nine seconds of whining and rationalizing a loss by Dominick Cruz

[315MMAFighter]

Nahh, that Knee had Dom's face looking like he got a perma ko'd face.
The punches and the finish were legitimate imo

 

[d2s]

He was posting as the fight was stopped. What he did prior to posting, and posting itself, shows he was intelligently defending. Which makes it a bad stop. Seriously watch again. He had to free his arms before he could do anything, and he did, while mitigating the damage he took by being aware enough to tuck and turn his chin. This is intelligently defending.



You're still unaware that he wasn't dropped from the knee. I wasn't either until I saw the second heabutt and push (which is what put him down) from another angle in slow motion. That aside, if you actually read what I've been saying and watch it in slow mo, you'll see he was defending.

If you actually read what I wrote, again, you'll see that I said his alcohol and cigarettes shit was weak - unless true. Of course a drunk ref is no bueno. Cigarettes? Idk wtf that has to do with anything.

WATCH the shit again, in slow mo, and pay attention to Cruz's arms. He had to free them and he did.

For fuck's sake you people are stubborn.

lol headbutt dude.. really? Let it go. Your boy got finished. Who's the stubborn one here?

 

[jsbx45]

I don't think Cruz is a bad guy. He was a great fighter at one point too. The stoppage is not horrible. Going after a ref's reputation like that is though. Dom needs to apologize to Peterson, who did his job, and didn't do it badly.

 

[jsbx45]

He was posting as the fight was stopped. What he did prior to posting, and posting itself, shows he was intelligently defending. Which makes it a bad stop. Seriously watch again. He had to free his arms before he could do anything, and he did, while mitigating the damage he took by being aware enough to tuck and turn his chin. This is intelligently defending.



You're still unaware that he wasn't dropped from the knee. I wasn't either until I saw the second heabutt and push (which is what put him down) from another angle in slow motion. That aside, if you actually read what I've been saying and watch it in slow mo, you'll see he was defending.

If you actually read what I wrote, again, you'll see that I said his alcohol and cigarettes shit was weak - unless true. Of course a drunk ref is no bueno. Cigarettes? Idk wtf that has to do with anything.

WATCH the shit again, in slow mo, and pay attention to Cruz's arms. He had to free them and he did.

For fuck's sake you people are stubborn.

Post a GIF of this other angle if you can...

 

[Wardum]

Was rooting for Dom but Triple C was chopping Dom's legs down

 

[Fioretti]

lol headbutt dude.. really? Let it go. Your boy got finished. Who's the stubborn one here?

I have never been a fan of Cruz. Don't agree with him getting a title shot after almost 4 years of inactivity. They clashed heads after the knee and Cejudo pushed him after the headbutt. He wasn't dropped from the knee. Never noticed it until someone posted it. I'll look for the gif.

 

[Fioretti]

lol headbutt dude.. really? Let it go. Your boy got finished. Who's the stubborn one here?

Headbutt and push after the knee that stops Cruz from swinging and puts him on his ass. Then pay attention to the placement of Cruz's left arm and Cejudo's left leg. He traps his left arm with the leg, but you can see it better from a different angle.

 

[Fioretti]

lol headbutt dude.. really? Let it go. Your boy got finished. Who's the stubborn one here?

https://images.app.goo.gl/dX95PhN9UyF4NmUE9

Better angle.

 

[Fioretti]

Post a GIF of this other angle if you can...

https://images.app.goo.gl/ZnrhoFdB6wwgtWma8

Here you can see his left arm trapped by Cejudo's left leg. Henry is grabbing Cruz's right arm with his right hand as well. I'm looking for the slow-mo gif of the stoppage, but keep this in mind when rewatching the one angle posted in this thread that's not in slow-mo. You can clearly see Cruz move to his left to free his right arm, then move back to his right, towards the fence, to free his left. Then he posts and starts to stand. All the while tucking his chin in and away from the punches, making Cejudo hit the top, side, and back of his head instead of his face or chin. This is intelligently defending for the position he was in.

You can also see how the punches were landing as glancing blows with the thumb and inner side of the index finger. They "landed" this way due to Cruz tucking and turning his chin away from the punches. A few other shots skipped off his head (not his chin or face) with the opposite side of Cejudo's hand. A flush shot lands ideally with the knuckles of the index and middle fingers, not the side of the hand, and somebody who is out and not intelligently defending doesn't have the level of consciousness to mitigate incoming damage by tucking and turning away from the strikes.

 

[Squarechoke]

the only problem here is that it all happened really quickly.

he got dropped, was trying to get back up - only to be dropped again, and then hit a bunch of a times from turtle, all in a matter of seconds.

he may have been trying to improve position, but it didn't look like it right up to the point that the ref stepped in. the ref waved it off at pretty much the same time dominick managed to pop back up, which is unfortunate, but the ref can't really be faulted for it. he's looking at the twice knocked down fighter taking shots in turtle.

with our benefit of hindsight, we all know cruz could have gone on longer. but at the time, from the refs perspective? the guy was seriously hurt, on all fours, with his face turned towards the mat, taking shots. facing the mat in the turtle position is not intelligent defense, no matter how often we actually see it in fights.

think of it this way. had cejudo landed the exact same amount of punches, and cruz didn't get up as the ref stopped it, but instead stayed on his knees, no one would be protesting the stoppage. so the only thing that changed the optics for us at the time was the fact that cruz got up the same split second.

i can understand dominick's frustration, but trying to blame the ref by saying he smelled like booze is just a bitch move. it's entirely impossible to verify and it smears the guy's reputation, the only way he can defend himself is by lashing back out at dominick, which he did, and now they both look like assholes.

I don't fault the ref for it as I said that it was a fine stoppage. He did what was within the realm of reason. I'm just saying that Cruz still worked enough that I understand that people wanted it to go longer. Hell I wanted it to go longer, but not in the sense that I think the ref did a bad job.

As for Dominick himself I guess when you feel like you're still in it and you have a world champion level competitive mind I understand that it's a tough pill to swallow. One is often biased on matters of oneself after all, plus that he knows what went on in his head which is a benefit no one else has (although that feeling can of course still be false if you're rocked enough).

 

[jsbx45]

https://images.app.goo.gl/ZnrhoFdB6wwgtWma8

Here you can see his left arm trapped by Cejudo's left leg. Henry is grabbing Cruz's right arm with his right hand as well. I'm looking for the slow-mo gif of the stoppage, but keep this in mind when rewatching the one angle posted in this thread that's not in slow-mo. You can clearly see Cruz move to his left to free his right arm, then move back to his right, towards the fence, to free his left. Then he posts and starts to stand. All the while tucking his chin in and away from the punches, making Cejudo hit the top, side, and back of his head instead of his face or chin. This is intelligently defending for the position he was in.

You can also see how the punches were landing as glancing blows with the thumb and inner side of the index finger. They "landed" this way due to Cruz tucking and turning his chin away from the punches. A few other shots skipped off his head (not his chin or face) with the opposite side of Cejudo's hand. A flush shot lands ideally with the knuckles of the index and middle fingers, not the side of the hand, and somebody who is out and not intelligently defending doesn't have the level of consciousness to mitigate incoming damage by tucking and turning away from the strikes.

I can see in the photo that Dom's L arm is trapped. Clearly he got it out, or Henry let it go moving to punch, Hard tellin about the headbutt and push down. You're gonna need more evidence to back your case up against the other GIF of the stoppage people are seeing. You gotta admit, based on THAT GIF, the stoppage doesn't look too bad.

 

[Fioretti]

I can see in the photo that Dom's L arm is trapped. Clearly he got it out, or Henry let it go moving to punch, Hard tellin about the headbutt and push down. You're gonna need more evidence to back your case up against the other GIF of the stoppage people are seeing. You gotta admit, based on THAT GIF, the stoppage doesn't look too bad.

That is a still image that shows his left arm trapped. I posted two gifs prior to that, showing the headbutt and push is what knocked him down.

Watch the gif that's posted, and pay attention to Cruz's arms. Both are trapped and he immediately works to get them out and stand up while tucking his chin.

It's not "my case", it's what happened if you look without bias. I don't care he lost, I care that it was a bad stop.

 

[Fioretti]

Watch Cruz's arms. You can see him lean left and pull his right arm away, then place his hand on the canvas to hold himself up. Then he starts moving to his right, away from the punches, after his left arm is out. Then he sticks his face into his right elbow before posting on both hands and starts to stand.

Henry trapped both arms immediately, which was beautiful, but Cruz works to get out immediately as well, and does exactly what he needed to do to free his arms and stand.

Also keep in mind that this happens in about 4-5 seconds. That's indicative of intelligent defense.

 

[wufabufa]

There have been worse stoppages, and there have better stoppages. This is somewhere in the middle. He was getting dominated and from my vantage he looked to be using base instinct to mitigate damage(turning his head/crawling away) instead of intelligently defending himself. A grandby roll would have made it necessary for Henry to use both arms to control a scramble instead of leaving him free to blast away at Dom with 11 unanswered punches. Instead Dom left his head completely unprotected.....probably because he was hurt and didn't have his wits about him from that knee and right that put him on his ass. Stoppage looked fine to me.

 

[Fioretti]

There have been worse stoppages, and there have better stoppages. This is somewhere in the middle. He was getting dominated and from my vantage he looked to be using base instinct to mitigate damage(turning his head/crawling away) instead of intelligently defending himself. A grandby roll would have made it necessary for Henry to use both arms to control a scramble instead of leaving him free to blast away at Dom with 11 unanswered punches. Instead Dom left his head completely unprotected.....probably because he was hurt and didn't have his wits about him from that knee and right that put him on his ass. Stoppage looked fine to me.

He had to get his arms out before anything else.

 

[Skellz]

11 pages of excuses from Cruz fanboys. Cruz wasnt having any success before that happened, nor should he even be in that position

this is pointlesssssss

 

[snugglecakes]

Dom was the one with alcohol on his breath

 

[josh345]

Meh it never looked like he was out. He was moving when eating some of those punches(half of which missed) and he was getting up. AND there was TWO seconds left in the round.

 

[Murder_KickHC]

All Dom does is headbutts, dance moves and block punches with his face. CCC made him bent the knee like everyone knew he would

 

[GrantSorenson]

Cruz was getting beaten easy and then dropped and hurt bad. I hope he loses that commentary job over his whining.