MMA Junkie analyst Dan Tom breaks down the UFC’s top bouts. Today, we look at the co-main event for UFC 249.
UFC 249 takes place Saturday at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
Henry Cejudo (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC)
Staple info:
- Height: 5’4″ Age: 33 Weight: 135 lbs. Reach: 64″
- Last fight: TKO win over Marlon Moraes(June 8, 2019)
- Camp: Fight Ready MMA (Arizona)
- Stance/striking style: Orthodox/kickboxing
- Risk management: Good
Supplemental info:
+ UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion
+ Olympic wrestling gold medalist (U.S.)
+ Bronze Gloves boxing champion
+ Regional MMA title
+ 7 KO victories
+ 5 first-round finishes
+ KO power
+ Solid footwork
^ Seldom out of position
+ Improved overall striking
^ Coming forward or off of the counter
+ Hard kicks and knees
^ Targets the body well
+ Strong inside the clinch
^ Solid grips/hand-fighting
+ Excellent wrestling ability
^ 90 percent takedown defense rate
+ Works well from topside
Dominick Cruz (22-2 MMA, 5-1 UFC)
Staple info:
- Height: 5’8″ Age: 34 Weight: 135 lbs. Reach: 68″
- Last fight: Decision loss to Cody Garbrandt(Dec. 30, 2016)
- Camp: Alliance MMA (San Diego, CA)
- Stance/striking style: Switch-stance/kickboxing
- Risk management: Good
Supplemental info:
+ 2x UFC bantamweight champion
+ WEC bantamweight title
+ Regional MMA titles at featherweight, lightweight
+ Wrestling base
+ 7 KO victories
+ 1 submission win
+ 5 first-round finishes
+ Consistent pace and pressure
+ Creative feints and footwork
^ Allows for misdirection/directional change
+ Accurate hooks and uppercuts
+ Underrated kicks and combinations
+ Excellent wrestling ability
^ Well-timed knee-tap takedowns
+ Superb scrambling and defense
^ Always urgent/positionally aware
+ Intelligent rides and strikes from topside
+/- Coming off 41-month layoff
Point of interest: Speed, styles and miles
The co-main event for UFC 249 features a crossroads matchup for the bantamweight belt that should make for an interesting stylistic clash.
An Olympic gold medalist wrestler with some boxing experience, Henry Cejudo initially came onto the scene implementing somewhat of a stick-and-move curriculum. Seldom throwing himself out of position, Cejudo packs cross-hook combinations that are often punctuated with hard kicks to the body.
Back when Cejudo fought Joseph Benavidez, the former freestyle wrestler displayed an upgraded muay Thai arsenal from his time spent at CSA in Northern California. And in his fight with Wilson Reis in 2017, Cejudo took things to yet another level, coming out in a sharp karate stance that he picked up while working down in Brazil with the Pitbull brothers (Bellator’s Patricio and Patricky Freire) – something I suspect we could see on Saturday.
Showing off an improved sense of range, Cejudo appears more capable of timing and countering his opponents precisely with palpable speed and power, which will likely come in handy when facing a fighter who should be slower on paper.
Enter Dominick Cruz.
Though he is undoubtedly the fighter with more MMA miles and wear on his body, Cruz did not earn the title (from myself and many others, anyway) of the greatest bantamweight of all time for nothing.
Despite carrying the nickname of “The Dominator,” I would argue that Cruz has historically been more of an innovator in MMA, whether we’re talking about the former champ’s incorporation of Muhammad Ali-like feints and footwork or the fact that he was forcing judges to award defense in a sport that seldom acknowledges such things even exist.
Often utilizing crouch variations as a jumping-off point, Cruz can either dart out to his left with a right cross for cover offensively or swing his stance back in a traditional shift (taught to me as “opening the gate”), which quietly changes the defensive terms of the equation and allows for Cruz to catch aggressive on-comers with his patented check-hooks and uppercuts.
Regardless of how Cruz is exercising his flow chart, the former WEC kingpin quietly applies a consistent economy of movement that allows him to work off the natural weight transfers of his motion. Moving, striking, and slipping all at the same time, Cruz creates an environment that allows him to change direction (or his level) on his opposition at the drop of a dime.
Considering both the wrestling acumen and weighted stance that Cejudo brings to the table, I will be curious to see if Cruz leans more on his underrated leg kicks to score given the success of the current champ’s previous opponents. I will also be looking to see if Cejudo tries to sit back and use his speed advantage to counter as he did to Cruz’s previously-mentioned stablemate, Reis, or if he instead aims to pressure forward to punctuate his presence in other ways.
Next point of interest: Wrestling warfare
UFC 249 breakdown: Will Dominick Cruz's long layoff hurt against champ Henry Cejudo?
