![]() ![]() UFC 269: Main Event Preview | Co-Main Event Preview | Order Now It’s a chapter in his career Cruz looks at with reverence for what it gave him, despite the annoyances it brought in the moment. The fight was also the first installment in his trilogy against Faber, which concluded nine years after the first edition with Cruz settling the score at 2-1 in his favor. Talking to UFC.com for an episode of Career Retrospective, Cruz said that loss prompted him to “fix” his grappling, which helped him on a historic eight-year unbeaten run. Although the mileage rises, so does the number of lessons learned, and to bring up his days under the WEC banner is to call back not only to the start of his championship reign, but also what was his lone defeat for many years: a submission loss to Urijah Faber at WEC 26. To scoff at this notion is to write off Cruz, which hasn’t aged well historically. “I’m going to have to pull that guy out against Pedro Munhoz.” “I’m moving up the ladder, so I picture myself being the vintage me in (World Extreme Cagefighting),” Cruz said. When it comes to the matchup against Munhoz, Cruz harkens back to his pre-UFC days to set the expectation. Any major accomplishments from here on out is a cherry on top of a cherry on top of a well-adorned cake. It’s hard to get away from legacy talk, though, especially when his is so well-established. More UFC 269: Charles Oliveira's Experience | Dustin Poirier's DriveĬruz’s various, injury-riddled layoffs have led people to speaking about him in the past tense, but the part-time color commentator still very much brings the past full-circle to the now. At 36 years old, he’s well-aware of Father Time, both in the physical and reflective sense. It’s not a fight that puts Cruz right back into the title picture, but it is a bout with upward momentum attached. Now, Cruz welcomes a challenge against the all-action Pedro Munhoz. ![]() Once acclimated, his experience bore fruit against Kenney, preventing the fellow Arizonan from using Cruz as a catapult up the ladder. He remarked afterwards that fighting for 15 minutes opposed to the 25 allotted to championship fights and main events was a slight adjustment. His signature footwork was there, but so was the grit when the high-paced fight progressed into the second and third rounds. ![]()
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