Dominick Cruz reacts to Dricus du Plessis describing his fighting style ahead of successful title defense against Sean Strickland 

Before his title defense against Sean Strickland, UFC middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis made a very bold statement about footwork in MMA.

In his opinion, traditional footwork skills are overrated and that less is more. This kind of attitude caused commotion among fans and fighters, especially since many view movement as being central to the sport.

Dominick Cruz, the former UFC bantamweight champion and famous for his technical footwork and slippery fighting style, responded diplomatically to Du Plessis' remarks.

Cruz's style of fighting is characterized by constant side-to-side movement, precise in-and-out strikes, and an unorthodox ability to attack from different angles.

Du Plessis' style, prioritizing aggressive forward pressure at the expense of old-school footwork, has served him well in his recent bouts. His win over Strickland cemented his status as middleweight kingpin. His downplaying of footwork's importance, however, is the exact opposite of Cruz, who has frequently attributed his success to his footwork and defense approach.

Fans promptly anticipated Cruz's dissent against du Plessis' opinion, as their philosophies conflict regarding movement and reacted to ESPN MMA's Instagram post regarding du Plessis' comment.

Later, Cruz himself, reacted to the post with lighthearted emojis on social media:

"😂🕺"

Dominick Cruz reacts to Dricus du Plessis's comments on the importance of footwork in MMA [Screenshot Courtesy: @espnmma on Instagram]

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"He's a projector" - Dominick Cruz responds to Henry Cejudo’s comments

Dominick Cruz recently responded to remarks made by his former opponent, Henry Cejudo, in an interview.

Cejudo, who beat Cruz in a contentious stoppage at UFC 249 in May 2020, had been vocal regarding his criticism of Cruz's overall career and performance. The long-standing rivalry has had the two fighters trading insults, a testament to their competitive history.

Cruz responded to Cejudo's comments by noting that they are opinions. Cruz criticized Cejudo's basis for complaining, noting that such opinions say more about the individual speaking than they say about what is complained of.

Ariel Helwani asked Cruz in the interview what he had to say about Cejudo's comments. He replied:

"It's his perspective, right? He's allowed to have whatever interpretation he wants, but where does he prove that? Where does he, like, have some scientist that says, 'This is where he did it wrong?' I mean, I've been hearing I've been doing things wrong since the beginning of my career. So, for him to, you know, critique injuries after his shoulder injuries and after retiring and then coming back, I think he's just looking at a microscope of himself. It's not really me that he's talking about; he's just explaining himself."

When prompted further, he stated:

"That's what Henry does...he's a projector"

Check out Dominick Cruz's comments (27:00):