Dominick Cruz and the Intangibles

By Kevin Davidson on October 19, 2014

You guys wanted a feel-good story? Look no further than Dominick Cruz’s return to the Octagon. I held off on writing this because at the time, it was a monstrous achievement — one that would be hard to put into words, to be honest. However, the fact of the matter remains that after almost three years of inactivity, Cruz returned to the Octagon and absolutely thrashed the number five bantamweight in the world, Takeya Mizugaki. I actually kind of felt bad for Mizugaki after that fight, seeing as he is such a nice guy and all; I hope he returns better. But my sympathy for an outclassed fighter is overshadowed by admiration for Cruz’s determination. It looked like he was ready to be champion again.

After the fight, Dana White confirmed that Cruz would indeed receive a title shot and fight T.J. Dillashaw. I, for one, am absolutely stoked about this fight. Dillashaw has a lot of the same movement that Cruz does. Both rely on excellent footwork to create awkward angles that they can capitalize on. If this fight is half as good as I think it will be, I’ll be one happy man.

I do enjoy a breakdown of the skills more than the average fan, but I really love to talk about the intangibles of the fight game. The biggest intangible in this fight is Cruz himself. Cruz is coming into the fight to reclaim something that was taken from him — something that Dillashaw never fully earned without fighting Cruz. We saw what Cruz did to the guy who was standing in front of this opportunity. Imagine what he is going to do to the guy who actually has his belt.