Den forne bantamviktamästaren Dominick Cruz (20-1) har ett mål i sikte när han kommer tillbaka från sin knäskada och det är att få en titelchans och vinna tillbaka titeln.
Cruz är helt säker på att det är en titelmatch han vill ha och han vill visa att T.J Dillashaw (11-2) aldrig var den bästa fightern i bantamviktsdivisionen.
”That’s really what I want, to go straight after [T.J.] Dillashaw or whoever has the title,” berättade Cruz för MMAFighting.com. ”I think Dillashaw is gonna have it. I want to fight him and show him that he never was the best, he never was the champ.”
Cruz skulle vilja vara tillbaka i oktagonen i slutet av året.
”That’s the goal and I’m on track for it,” sa Cruz. ”And it is feasible, because other people with ACL injuries like I’ve sustained have done it in the amount of time that I’m mentioning.”
Cruz kommer senast ifrån en KO-vinst över Takeya Mizugaki (20-8-2-0) på UFC 178 och är nöjd över hans prestation i den matchen.
”What you don’t know is how you compete with the best guys in the world, the top five in the division,” sa Cruz. ”And you also don’t know how you’re going to react under those lights, when you see all the people and go through all the media. What I realized is that it’s more fun and better than it was before. So I cannot wait to be back.”
Cruz förväntar sig att vara i bättre form än någonsin.
”I know what I’m capable of after my body has been completely broken down and rebuilt and I’m just as good as I ever was, if not better,” sa Cruz. ”So I’m excited to come back and win that title.”
Cruz menar att trots sina knäskador så vet han att han kan vinna över dom bästa bantamviktarna i världen.
”It’s a cakewalk, because I’ve done it twice now and I know the process and I know where my knee is at now compared to where my other knee was at this time and I’m doing really well,” sa Cruz.
”I’m not fighting it anymore. I’ve accepted that my knee is hurt and I need to just wait around until it heals. When it heals, what really gives me peace is that I can go out there and still perform at the highest level against the best in the world.”
