Dominick Cruz: Henry Cejudo Win at UFC 288 Would’ve Been ‘Catastrophic’ for 135 Class | The MMA Hour
Dominick Cruz discusses how he scored the UFC 288 main event, Henry Cejudo’s retirement and return, how Sean O’Malley would do against Aljamain Sterling, where Sterling ranks among bantamweight greats, what’s next for Cruz and when he might return, Cejudo vs. Merab, and more.
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Dominic’s mindset is so unreal. He should be like a MMA Mental Coach for fighters. Just awesome listening to him speak.
I have to agree
being salty is so unreal in deed.
It takes a mind like Dominic’s to remove bias and critically analyze Aljo’s career/style. And he clearly respects it so that says something.
If anyone needs dom to cosign aljos skills and his career, they know absolutely nothing about the sport, or they are a ridiculously biased hater.
@@jaseallenson316 I’m an Aljo supporter and you have to admit, his style isn’t easy for casuals to understand. He’s not smeshing, he’s not knocking guys out, and he’s got unorthodox/odd looking striking at times which doesn’t always look pretty…it’s hRd for that style to resonate and to top it off he’s getting close decisions. He finishes O Malley and he’ll get the love T wood got for finishing Darren Till. He wasn’t appreciated as a champion before that fight.
He is the most biased person out there. Listen to his little sassy take on Cejudo inly because Cejudo finished him.
Dom is one of the best analyst out there. He should be a motivational speaker
@@johnboylan3832 You don't really think that 😂😂
100% on board with the "dodging the pressure" analogy...spoken like a fighter and a champion
Dom literally took years off due to his body not handling the pressure
@@Ryan-ys2bq yeah but Physically as soon as he's able to fight he gets in there. The mentality is always there. He's always hungry and wants the title. He's the only guy in sports that is a desk analyst/commentator while being the champ and active and for more than 10 years. He never shied away from giving the young guys the opportunity and putting them over.
@@Ryan-ys2bqyou clearly don’t know what he meant by the pressure lmao. He had blown out knees. Doms saying Henry left had no injuries, still relatively young but Henry left because he couldn’t handle the pressure of being champ. Such as khabib. They wanna leave on top and can’t handle the pressure.
It's rare to hear a top level fighter be able to articulate themselves quite as well as Dominic can. Thanks for sharing your thoughts in such an open and honest interview
I thought you called him “Dominic Can” 😂
being salty is so unreal in deed.
little damage taken=brain still works
The part about the ego was heavy. Insightful by Dom.
He seems to be learning
Lolol I was waiting for this one
@@zeeshawn15 Ah, mocking someone that was mentally competent enough to grasp a man's wise words. Thinking is tough, I know.
@@buckhead40z chill... we are just playing around
It was hilarious to hear Doms rant about cejudo on Schaubs fight companion. He was going in on him. A lot of it, he repeated here....but not all of it.
This guy a undeniably wise. Everytime he speaks I'm fed. Stellar life coach.
Old wiseman Cruz. Dropping some knowledge for the people
I really feel like I am lucky to listen to Cruz talk about MMA. The guy is exactly the role model you would young MMA fighters to follow.
being salty is so unreal in deed.
The bantamweight goat
No doubt
Man it’s so cool to hear how much Dom respects Aljo. Aljo really does not get the respect he deserve.
I mean it helps when he dislikes Henry, the man who knocked him out.
@@ryu210gonzales9 Who cares. He respects Aljo and that's all that matters. Give credit to the winner.
@@ryu210gonzales9Chael just said aljo is one of the most respected fighters backstage so that’s not why dom said it
Has nothing to do with giving credit. Dom has always been a smart ass since his WEC days. I have no doubt it helps that Henry lost. Aljo is not that fluid and perfect as dom says. Look at that fight and compare it to previous bantam weight champion fights.
No dummie he just hates Cejudo
True LEGEND in every sense of the word. Incredible he is still going after all these years after the knees. Geesh. Respect GREATNESS still at it. Lets goo DOM
Dominic is one of the most honest and brilliant guy in the ufc
Get Dominick on the show again! Soothing to hear him express his thoughts.
Cruz's analytical mind, combined with his friendly and gentlemanly behaviour, topped off by a relentless drive for proper conduct and just actions make him such a class act. Great fighter, but that much greater outside the cage. I can only hope he ends up in positions of power.
Dom still one of my faves. Much respect to the OG. What you did many years ago is awesome. And to see you still competing amongst these younger savages…you have my respect
I love how Ariel made Doms day when he compliments his beard at the end
Bless ... I don't think Dom gets many compliments ...."Hey I'll take that"
What a legend
“Why attach more to a loss than a win” Brilliant!People don’t realize that their mind since birth is a sequence of programming given to them. It’s OUR job to go back and run our own set of programming. That is what training camps are for! Love this guy!
I would love to just sit down with dom and talk about life. He has so much wisdom already. Could learn a lot from him
Dom is the best I love when he’s commentating is insight is so unique and hilarious “get your toes out of the cage what are you talking about” lol
Legend of the sport, his come back to win the title was legendary. Missed a lot of his prime too.
Wow, Dominic Cruz dropping some crazy knowledge here that’s why fighter perspective is so interesting. Aljo does not get enough respect and we all know why it’s how we got the title versus Petr Yan, but he is the champ and he beat cejudo and shut his little mouth.
Dom is brilliant. Very cerebral and understanding. Life humbled him and he's learned from it 100%
How many dudes loving what Doms saying were talking trash about Sterling.
Dom: sterling at his best reminds me of a young me, Dominic Cruz. I’m proud to see me out there
😂
Had to come back and listen to this interview a second time so many 💎’s dropped in this interview
Cruz is so smart everything he said about Aljo and the way he said it was great
Dom, the philosopher….much respect my brother. Love the growth and wisdom you carry!
Wow! I really enjoyed hearing Cruz talk so highly of Aljo. He’s well deserving of it.. whether you like him or not, he stays in there. Constantly fighting. Great interview. It was also cool to hear Cruz break down some of Aljo’s tactics. Very smart fighter.
Thank you DC for your analysis of Aljo style! Very educating. 🇯🇲🖤🙏🏾
Dominick's fight & fighter breakdowns are just superb.
Bro just gave the whole blueprint of Aljo😂😂 but it’s amazing to actually learn the science of Aljo fighting from listening to Dom. Makes it very appreciative
Gotta love this man. How could you not. Wisdom in buckets.
always love listening to Mr Cruz
What a legend ,not just amazing insight but always with fearless honesty
Hearing dom on jre explains how and why his style is what it is made me a fan forever. I love that we get him on the desk when he does hang it up
Well, Cruz certainly seem to love Cejudo...
No 1 love that midget
This was a great interview to listen to in the morning
Love dom. Best analysis calling fights. Love the things he says.
MAN, don't know how to particularly explain this but when Dom speaks, his words are paired like perfect dance partners, it's not just intellect that he carries, it's pure life wisdom through the art of savagery, combat
yup wasn’t a real big fan of dom but in mma just one conversation like this could completely change my mind. he’s still in the division today and that is crazy. Easy to forget sometimes cause I see him as an announcer but he is still in the pool.
Well done Dominic Cruz for getting Aljos back very well said it's about time people started getting in that guy's corner. He really is a good champion
Really enjoyed his breakdowns and the good things he said about Sterling. Hopefully Aljo heard that
Cruz was dropping bombs during Shuabs fight companion. Dude is dope. Love his commentary and would love to watch him more uncensored like on the fight companion again.
@@malus1426 Chito's attitude isn't much better honestly.
Dom is politely trying to talk his way into a title fight with Aljo 😅
I feel like once you become champ all of a sudden you have this new sheen of confidence. Like Leon had w Usman in the second fight. You have this swagger and to defeat a champ you have to either knock them out which is hard or beat them decisively. Not by a slim margin. Henry did not do that to Aljo.
But Aljo did not do that to Henri either, it was controversially close.
@@vertigev which is why the champ won the fight. That’s my point to dethrone the champ you have to make a statement and win convincingly. Ya know ?
Another Classic Interview..bowl of gems
Dominick Tom Cruze
This is why Dom is the best mma pundit. It’s like an education lesson we get every time he speaks. ALJO should be sending him a thank you message
Man, Dominick said it. Retired as champ, and retires. Dodging pressure. So true. Man. Man when he said losses are what stick with you and learning from it. When wins are nothing without losses, and losses aren’t without the wins. When saying he didn’t have the maturity and teachings of losses, he now can appreciate his old opponents!!!! Dominick is so intelligent about losses and wins. Wow. He said it !!!!
Love this podcast episode Fr touched deep he’s right everything he says I wanna be able be like him and the way he thinks and carries himself much respect and inspiration inside and outside the cage sheesh goat mentality
Very good interview! Very inspirational!
You gotta respect Dominick. Wise words and insight.
The absolute best. 🙏
Wish Dom spoke more or had a pod where he talks about not just fights. Dude has a great mind.
I think Dom should be out making millions as a motivational speaker. Put him on stage with Tony Robins. He doesn’t just do fight analysis. He does life/psyche breakdowns.
I know exactly what Dom was talking about, in the 5th I was thinking Aljo has done it again, he’s given away the most important round. He did that in the Yan fight too, he needs to find a way to finish strong if he expects it to go decision.
I agree w Dom on this about dodging the heat and the pressure while standing on the sideline the way Henry did rather than taking the heat and the pressure of an active fighter
Could listen to Dom for hours Best mind in combat sports period
Great interview
Ariel asked all the questions I wanted him to ask, and Dominic answered them. Great interview 🙏
All the Aljo haters must have hated listening to this from Dominic. He knows his mma and his opinion is definitely respected. Thank you Dom
Great listening to Dom.
Great fighter and MMA analyst 👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾
If what Dom is saying Volk would have won the Islam pound for pound fight. So I'm not convinced that the refs only see the last round of every fight.
That was exactly my thought!! I agree
I think it was more or less hyperbole. It sounded like he was saying, if that judge gave aljo the fifth, what was he looking at the for the first four.
there was a rule change around that time for Damage.
One of the UNDENIABLE goats 🐐 10years unbeaten!!!♥️♥️♥️
4:21 exactly, Henry fought 6 times from 2017 to 2020 then retired at 33 years old but then he wants to be called the GOAT.. what an absolute joke. Aljo fought 9 times between 2017-2020 and is still in taking on the best fighters in their prime and Aljo is not calling himself the GOAT, instead he is just grinding and taking on everyone and as Cruz said, that’s why Aljo good for the division as the champ, not Henry
You gotta love Dom. He broke down the fight perfectly and gave respect to the champ. The real goat of the division
Dominator is going to always be a champion if he won the belt today it wouldnt suprise nobody , i have always admired Dom him and Connor are my favorite MMA fighters
Always listen to Dom he’s as real as it gets.
Dom just keep on being that guy. Much respect.
Great insight
its nice to hear dom give aljo flowers i believe he deserves them
this is why i like Dominic calling the fights. I would have Dom, Bisping and Anik with some Felder mixed in for every event and I would be very happy
What's that bump in Dominick's lower left lip? Still very insightful and one of the greats in his division.
Probably just swollen from training I’m assuming. It happens.
Herpes
Looks like a fat lip. Sparring?
@@jpw6984😅😂😂
Can't wait to see Aljo choke O'Malley out unconscious
Cruz is definitely one of the greatest minds in this sport. I hope aljo was listening.... great advice re. Self respect! I 100% agree...
Absolute Legend
Glazing is serious
MR CRUZ U R THE BEST 🙇🏼♂️IN EVERY ASPECT OF THE GAME
6:20 “You can’t look out for respect, it comes within and then you become the environment that people respect.” - Dom Doc Cruz
Legend of the game forever
Loved the way he broke down Aljo
Deep. I respect that
Finally... someone that likes and respects aljo like i do hahaha
I really like the scoring system from one FC that tries to look at the fight as a hole instead of each individual round. Is it a perfect system he'll know but at least encourages fighters to do more instead of outpointing round-by-round
with those rules, floyd & a lot of undefeated fighters would never win in boxing, while canelo & fan favorites would win because they like them more 😂 im mexican but canalo & other ko punchers that only throw punches to score damage, instead of points would always win 😂 rules are rules & its a sport 🤷🏽♂️
You could still outscore opponents throughout the fight. The rules are rules, but noone said they were good rules
Must be tough to judge the close fights. Are there any close ones you can give me that I can watch and see who I think wins vs who the judges gave it to?
@Darrel High This is MMA, not boxing. Round by round point scoring works for boxing cause there's no takedowns or grappling.
@@Darrel219 GGG got robbed the first time no?
Some great points by Dom but what he says at 2:52 is nonsense. The rounds are of equal value and scored successively (in real time). His claim about 5th round bias would be worth greater scrutiny if fights were judged as a whole, but the 10 Point Must System doesn't operate that way.
Love this guy
Dom has always been on such a different level mentally and psychologically
Strong minded dude here. Obviously you coached my old friend Chris Tickle on tuff 12 with you and faber.
Should write a book. He Has such a neat perspective and voice. Almost has a Stoic philosophy
Dom is a mma Jedi !!
Damn... I got chills when this man talked about finding out when you need your ego and when it needs to be set aside to live life. Im always suprised by doms insightfulness even though i expect that from him. He describes esoteric concepts in a very salient and digestable manner
None of it is his original thoughts and ideas though. You learn all this when you go through self improvement, aging, loss, etc
He must be such a great guy
4:29 💫 This 💫
When Dom is talking you listen. Simple as that gents 😎
Cruz is a Legend!
Wow Cruz is so right about Cejudo retiring
Dominick cruz legend.... facts!!!
Huge respect to Dominic by admitting Aljo won the fight even though Henry beat Dom and it would make Dom look better for Henry to win over Aljo
what a strange comment, he literally says in this interview "I am not defined by my losses" ... Aljo won you expected him to be like NO HENRY WON BECAUSE HE BEAT ME SO IM BITTER lmao
@Cristian Chavez No I think you are misunderstanding. If fighters get beat by somebody they always try to make that person seem like as good as possible so their loss to that person doesn't look so bad. Dom could have easily tried to act like Henry won since it was such a close fight with Aljo anyway, but he just called it like it is, and I respect that
@@brentcox2961 Cruz is just a real guy. He talks stupid stuffs sometimes, but at least he fully believes in what he said.