TJ Dillashaw Against Dominick Cruz Preview
As excited as I am for the upcoming Condit vs. Lawler fight (especially the Chris Cornell promo….incredible). I just don’t feel that I’d be adding much to the fight by breaking it down that all you ‘smarks’ wouldn’t already have a good grasp on. Instead, my energy has been focused on the upcoming match between TJ Dillashaw and Dominick Cruz for the 135 lb. title.
I will finally (since no one ever has) explain why their footwork is dually amazing, yet different. In a way that is hopefully understandable (it’s no small task, surely someone else would’ve done it by now…). This has been one of my most challenging breakdowns by far. And I certainly miss my microphone but think I’ve put together a good blueprint to get everyone started. And more importantly some clarification.
Thinking of analogies to make sense of the bob/weave/pivot/hands down stylings of “The Teflon Dom”. And the shifty/ambidextrous/in and out/powerful styling of the Lil’ Ninja was half of the struggle. With Cruz one of the first things that came to mind was an exercise I used to do. I would take a relatively light kettlebell and throw it in the air with one hand and catch with the other rhythmically.
The Mongoose Analogy
While I don’t have footage of this, it does look similar to his movement. With TJ there is a more linear, forward-backwards – angle – level change approach. Which is incredible as well, but different. So while I couldn’t use the mongoose analogy again (I used it for my Rigondeaux breakdown), I did use the crossover dribble/basketball analogy. I also compared the two to great pugilists from days passed, in the form of Willie Pep, and Marvin Hagler.
I didn’t only cover footwork of course, and hopefully, you’ll understand the differences between these two incredible competitors. More so after this and of course, ask me anything that may be unclear. I may make a follow-up video on my other channel of me doing footwork similar to both fighters/emulating them. But anywho……happy holidays, and here goes…..enjoy, cheers!
