Will we finally witness the much-anticipated third fight between McGregor and Diaz later this year?
#3 TJ Dillashaw vs Dominick Cruz
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Dominick Cruz and TJ Dillashaw have been considered as two of the best Bantamweights of this generation
Over the course of the past few years, the UFC Bantamweight division has turned out to be one of the most exciting divisions in the entire promotion and it is likely that heading into 2018, the 135-pound division will continue to prove its worth. New champion TJ Dillashaw, who dethroned Cody Garbrandt at UFC 217, has proved himself to be one of the pioneers of the Bantamweight division and is currently leading the division from the front, which almost replicates Dominick Cruz’s impact on the division back in the year 2016.
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In January of 2016, Dominick Cruz competed in his first Bantamweight Title fight in over four years, when the “The Dominator” defeated TJ Dillashaw at UFC Fight Night 81 and regained the title with a split-decision victory. Cruz’s victory over TJ was cited as one of the best comebacks in MMA history, however, the 32-year-old has somewhat fallen down the rankings in the Bantamweight division, ever since he lost the title to Cody Garbrandt in December of 2016.
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With Cody Garbrandt being currently fresh off a loss against TJ Dillashaw, the smart decision, in this case, would be to make Dillashaw defend the Bantamweight Title against Dominick Cruz in a rematch from 2016. Cruz is yet to step into the octagon since his loss to Garbrandt in 2016 and maybe this will be a Déjà vu case of sorts if “The Dominator” once again manages to regain the Bantamweight Title by defeating TJ Dillashaw in his return fight.
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About the author
Soumik Datta
Soumik Datta is a professional wrestling journalist who has been following the business for more than a decade.
In 2017, Soumik joined the Sportskeeda Wrestling team and is best known for his work with the WWE team. He has previously contributed to the Sportskeeda AEW, MMA, and the football team where he specifically covered the Major League Soccer.
In 2024, Soumik crossed 50 million reads for Sportskeeda WWE. While working under Sportskeeda MMA, he interviewed prominent UFC fighters, including Justin Gaethje, Sean O'Malley, and Cory Sandhagen, among others. Prior to joining Sportskeeda, Soumik briefly worked for SEScoops and Sports Nova.
Apart from his love for professional wrestling, Soumik also watches Football and has been a lifelong follower of Liverpool FC and Mohun Bagan. He has also been following the Indian Super League and remains the only content creator to have traveled across India to watch 7 ISL Matches in 7 Days, a video which currently sits at 26K views on his YouTube channel. His channel currently amasses over 120K views.
As aforementioned, Soumik also likes to make content for his YouTube channel and travel to various places either with family, friends, or solo, or go on road trips.
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