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Dominick Cruz believes criticism toward Sean Strickland’s performance at UFC 312 is unfair.
Strickland (29-7 MMA, 16-7 UFC) was heavily chastised for how he fought against middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis (23-2 MMA, 9-0 UFC) in this past Saturday’s headliner at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. After losing their first fight at UFC 297 by split decision, Strickland lost a dominant unanimous decision to Du Plessis in the rematch.
Strickland broke his nose in Round 4, and Cruz credits him for showing toughness by fighting through it.
“You keep hearing, ‘Strickland is not who he says he is. He didn’t go to the death.’ I disagree,” Cruz said on the “Believe You Me” podcast. “When you see his nose explode before the fight’s over and he keeps fighting, I think people underestimate the level of pain, how much that throws you off. It takes me back to the Justin Gaethje vs. (Max) Holloway fight.
“Justin Gaethje is easily one of the toughest guys in the whole planet, everybody knows it, and that threw him off. (Paul) Felder, you’ve broken your arm in the middle of a fight; I’ve broken my hands in the middle of a fight. I don’t think people at home really give dividend to Strickland for the toughness that he showed against him twice, and in these fights, it wasn’t easy to do what he did.”
Cruz thinks Strickland’s pre-fight words of going to war put an extra magnifying glass on his performance.
“Now people are going to bash him because he talks heavy, so that’s what that’s more about, I feel like, but I tip my hat to both guys,” Cruz said. “It was a very technical battle, but DDP (Du Plessis), those are the things that people are missing from when I watch it, and full credit.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 312.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Ex-UFC champ defends Sean Strickland’s performance in loss to Dricus Du Plessis
