Dominick Cruz has watched plenty of fight-week theatrics during his career, but he sees something distinct in the escalating back-and-forth between Khamzat Chimaev and Sean Strickland ahead of UFC 328, and he is not dismissing it as mere promotion.
Speaking with MMA Junkie, the UFC Hall of Famer and commentator offered a nuanced take on what is driving the intensity, arguing that both men are caught in a pressure loop where neither can afford to show weakness without undermining the image they have spent careers building.
“I think this is just fight week pressure and they both have an image to uphold, and both of them are going to flex bigger than the other one because that’s the personality they’re trying to bring. They can’t start being nice now. They’ve got to be the crazy guys. And now they’re going to out-crazy each other to see who’s tougher. That’s how I see it. Like, ‘No, I’m crazier than you, you can’t be crazier than me because I’ve already shown you how crazy I am.’ It’s just a show to me. But at the same time, the nerves of the fight going to the death is real. Two things can be true at the same time.”
Cruz also pointed to the specific ego pressures each fighter carries into fight week, framing the championship stakes as an amplifier of behavior that might otherwise remain within more recognizable bounds.
“I do believe there’s a lot of pressure. Think of the pressure for these guys? Strickland on his way to another title. Khamzat is just the undefeated guy that — think of the things people have been telling his ego? ‘You’re unbeatable, you’re the strongest guy ever, nobody will ever touch you.’ You can tell by the way that he talks that he really believes the hype about himself, too, to uphold. Imagine what his ego is telling him every day? That’s the pressure we have as fighters.”
On the question of whether UFC will modify its standard fight week activities to account for the very real possibility of a pre-fight confrontation getting out of hand, Cruz said he would not be surprised to see the faceoff scrapped entirely, drawing a comparison to the infamous Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones brawl at a pre-fight press conference.
“I doubt they’ll have faceoffs, right? If they’re saying that, why would you have a faceoff? Why would you even take the risk if you’re Dana with these two guys? Kind of like DC and Jones and you could have another one of those situations where they just scrap and knock everything off the table. I don’t think they’re faking, I think they’re just talking crazy because they’re making sure you know: Don’t test me. And UFC will say, ‘OK, we’re going to listen. Bring the security out.’”
UFC 328 takes place May 9 at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, with Chimaev defending the middleweight title against Strickland in the main event.
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