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Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: T.J. Dillashaw vs. Dominick Cruz; and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira retires
Sep 16, 2015 - 12:30:39 PM
HYDEN BLOG: T.J. Dillashaw vs. Dominick Cruz; and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira retires
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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

It was announced last week that UFC Bantamweight Champion T.J. Dillashaw will defend his belt against Dominick Cruz at a Fox Sports 1 event in January. Cruz never lost the title, but was stripped following numerous injuries and setbacks. This is a tremendous fight, and one I'm surprised to see on cable television, but it's also one that I can't help but feel is a bit of a mismatch.

Cruz has fought once in four years. That's not a typo, he beat Takeya Mizugaki at UFC 178 last September, but hadn't fought before that since October 2011. It was a great feel-good moment when Cruz returned and whooped Mizugaki in just over a minute, but then he promptly tore another ACL. I believe that's his third ACL tear in four years. You can throw in a torn groin for good measure, and that's a lot of injuries to come back from.

I just don't see how a guy can come back from all these injuries and step into the cage across from a guy like Dillashaw and be able to hang with him. No offense to Mizugaki, but Dillashaw is on a different level. What he did to Renan Barao was remarkable. No one was able to beat Barao, yet Dillashaw has dominated him twice. The speed and the footwork that Dillashaw has is spectacular. There are plenty of times in sports where you see something that shouldn't be possible, but I just don't see how Cruz can come back from all this time away and hang with Dillashaw, it's asking too much. You can't replicate the speed with which Dillashaw moves in practice, it's just not possible.

My mind tells me that Dillashaw will dominate Cruz and finish him in the third round, but my heart says that Cruz is so special that he can overcome all this. I still think that Dillashaw wins regardless, but maybe there's a chance that Cruz makes this a very close fight. If Cruz hadn't suffered all these injuries I think it would be a much closer fight, but as it is, I got to say that Dillashaw finishes Cruz in the third or fourth round. I hope I'm wrong, but I just don't see how Cruz can overcome all this stuff. It would be one of the best sports stories in recent memory if Cruz were to win, but real life isn't a movie.

*************

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira has officially retired and will take on a mentor-type role within the UFC. This is great for a variety of reasons. One, Big Nog is a legend with more highlights than you can possibly count. His wars in PRIDE are must-see and he added upon that with his UFC run. He's a first ballot Hall-of-Famer and is an all-time top ten fighter in his division. Two, he has so much to offer. Nogueira is a multi-skilled fighter who helped shape the way we think about heavyweights and what they're capable of doing. Nogueira is a highly skilled submission fighter, but was also so incredibly tough that it didn't seem possible to stop him at times.

One of my favorite Big Nog memories is when he fought Bob Sapp in PRIDE. He took so much abuse from Sapp during that fight but fought through it and got the victory. There are countless others I'm leaving out. Nogueira will help so many fighters learn and get better at their craft. He's already made a huge impact in the careers of so many fighters, and he'll keep adding to that list. The list of guys he's helped over the years include Anderson Silva, UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo, Junior dos Santos, Lyoto Machida, Patricky and Patricio Freire, and many others.

To say that Nogueira had a good career is a massive understatement. He's earned the respect of anyone who calls themselves fight fans, and I'm glad he's still going to be involved in the fight game. It's exciting to think about what else he could accomplish going forward.


Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank


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