Dominick Cruz knows a little bit about being a UFC champion.
He won the 135-pound title in the WEC in March 2010. He defended it twice before becoming the UFC bantamweight champion in December of the same year. He defended the UFC title twice before a series of knee injuries forced him to relinquish the belt due to inactivity. He regained the title in January 2016 by defeating T.J. Dillashaw. He defended the crown once before losing to current titleholder Cody Garbrandt at UFC 207 in December 2016.
Garbrandt hasn’t defended the belt and has been sidelined with a back injury. He’s expected to face Dillashaw in the UFC 217 co-main event on Nov. 4 at Madison Square Garden. The two were originally scheduled to meet at UFC 213 in July, but Garbrandt’s back injury forced him out of the fight. Cruz says that there’s no way Garbrandt pulls out of UFC 217 no matter what.
“We’ve heard Cody talk about his back a lot. He’s had a lot of pain in it. The thing is, he’s not going to pull out of this fight, so welcome to being a champ. I said at the post-fight press conference after we fought; I said, it’s one thing to get the belt, it’s another thing to keep it after you’ve earned it and defend it,” Cruz recently said while appearing on the UFC Unfiltered podcast.
“He’s had it a year and hasn’t defended it yet. Now he’s up and he has to pay the piper. He’s got to show up and fight,” added Cruz.
Part of being the champion is defending the title even when you’re not 100-percent healthy. The champion is essentially the spokesperson for a division and has the responsibility to further build the weight class.
“Part of the responsibility of a champion is to not just show up for yourself, but you’ve got to kind of build the division. He’s got to be there and fight TJ on this big card in New York with GSP (Georges St-Pierre) because it helps promote the division. That’s what makes it tough. Sometimes the UFC needs you to take fights that you might not be 100-percent healthy for. Sometimes you’ve got to jump in there,” he said.
This article first appeared at News – MMAWeekly.com
