Ok so we all know many moons ago he got flattened by Dodson, but since then he's been on an absolute tear. He's dropped two exceptionally close decisions and other than that he's marched his way theothrthe BW division claiming gold twice and coming off a successful defence of the undisputed title against Garbandt. There's not been many great BW fighters for my money, but the following undoubtedly are: Dominic Cruz T.J. Dillshaw Cody Garbrandt Kid Yamamoto Renan Barao Miguel Torres Does TJ now sit atop that pile? Or is Cruz still the man? For me it is really hard to split them. First fight was razor close and could have gone either way. But the man who unseated Dom has been twice brutally stopped by TJ. What do we think, is TJ rightfully the goat BW or is Cruz the goat?
As of now they are probably even imo. Yes Cruz beat TJ but that was a razor thin decision which EASILY could have been given to TJ. I think you also need to consider the fact that TJ is much more capable of actually stopping opponents whereas Cruz mostly decisions elite opposition.
Cruz and it isn't even close. He had a great run in the WEC and early into the UFC before getting derailed by injuries. The fact that he came back to beat TJ just solidifys his greatness. TJ needs a 4-5 more defenses against good competition and then he might have an argument. Until then Cruz edges him.
But that solidification depends on how you scored the first fight right, even on this thread some are adamant that TJ got robbed.
That was one of the greatest career comebacks in the history of MMA. Derailed for several years by some of the absolute worst injuries that a fighter can deal with to getting the belt he had next lost at the time back against an elite p4p talent. That solidifies it. Not to mention that Cruz set the template for Dillashaw and Garbrandt. It will take a bit extra to usurp him. If Dillashaw beats Moraes, Yan along with a few others then he'll have a very good case. Until then... Cruz>
I'm not saying the comeback wasn't great .What I'm saying is, if you score the fight for TJ, it's a struggle to call Cruz the. Goat
Cruz is still the king at BW, nobody's CV is as good at the weight. If he can get healthy, I wouldn't rule out him taking the title from TJ again.
I think Torres' case for being a great is questionable. He was at his best during the early days of the division when the quality of competition wasn't very good so he lacks good names on his CV
Cruz is still the greatest - and yea, i think he won the fight vs Dillashaw. If his prime weren't screwed by injuries, i reckon he would be a top 5-10 all-time. Might be Cejudo vs TJ next, let Cruz have a fight and make that Cruz vs TJ rematch. Even if TJ should win a possible rematch, i am not sure i will put him above Cruz yet.
