Josh Thomson and John McCarthy recently broke down Dominick Cruz’s devastating loss to Marlon Vera, while also discussing what the future might hold for the legendary Cruz.
The former two-time UFC champion was finished by Vera in the main event of UFC San Diego this past weekend.
In an edition of the Weighing In podcast, former UFC lightweight Thomson and former MMA referee McCarthy lauded Cruz for his accomplishments.
However, they concurred that ‘The Dominator’s best days as a fighter are probably behind him.
Thomson indicated that fighters with unique high-octane styles like Cruz and boxing legend Roy Jones Jr. rely primarily on their exceptional speed to win. However, as they age, fighters with such energy-draining styles tend to get too tired in the later rounds of their fights.
Moreover, Thomson opined that a faster, younger version of Cruz would’ve minimized the impact of the 29-year-old Vera’s fight-ending head kick.
“Now, being a little bit older, this style that he has doesn’t lay – It’s gonna be hard for him to keep laying this thing out the way he’s been doing it for the last 10-15 years because of the style.”
Furthermore, ‘Big’ John McCarthy added that the current, older version of Dominick Cruz is unlikely to reclaim the UFC bantamweight title, particularly given the myriad of dangerous bantamweights today.
“You’ve gotta say, ‘Hey, man. I understand why that’s where you wanna go, and all the power to you. I’m just not sure if at this point in your career, at your age, you’re going to be able to reach that with the guys that are in that weight class.’”
Watch Thomson and McCarthy discuss the topic at 53:37 in the video below:
