We've said many times on this website before that Dominick Cruz is one of the most fascinating men to listen to when it comes to discussing the sport of mixed martial arts.
There aren't that many fighters out there that truly understand the way the game works, and while Conor McGregor is the prime example of someone who uses his time in front of the media to frustrate his opponents and make them uncomfortable while also increasing his own brand, Cruz is another who does that job extremely well, albeit differently.
We saw ahead of his title fight against TJ Dillashaw in January of 2016 that his style of "trash talk", where he gives detailed predictions of what will happen based on well-explained reasoning, can become extremely effective against someone who is not as well spoken as he is. The result then was frustration on the part of Dillashaw who couldn't answer back effectively, something that appeared to translate to the fight also.
And it's happening again. Two says ago the UFC released footage where Cruz and Grabrant shared an interview from different rooms. We've seen this many times before, and often it can turn nasty very quickly. This time it resulted in Cody Garbrandt storming out of the interview because he wanted to go next door and confront his opponent.
And he used the same thing Eminem's character B-Rabbit used in the final battle of '8 Mile', by saying everything he thought his opponent would say about him, himself, leaving his opponent with nothing to say...
I can say what you're going to say, verbatim, before these interviews, because you're a meat-head.
Garbrant had nothing to offer but 'Yeah.. Yeah..' whenever Cruz was talking, and soon had enough as he demanded to be unhooked from his mic so he could go after Cruz. He had nothing to say, Cruz had said it all already.
Where did we see that before?
In all seriousness, Cruz is someone who truly uses the media to his advantage. His game is based on avoidance and counter-striking, so by riling up his opponents he gets them to fight how he wants them to, with a desire to charge at him.
All the sounds coming from Garbrandt's camp suggest that he's more relaxed than ever and that what his opponent says does not bother him, but his actions say different.
Just look at the backstage scuffle after yesterday's weigh-ins. That's an emotionally invested man.
This does not at all mean that the fight is already over, obviously. Garbrandt has the power to put anyone to sleep, but Cruz has played the approach to the fight extremely well, now all that's left to see is whether or not it will play out like he says it will.
And it's also time to watch 8 Mile again...
