“I doubt they’ll have face offs,” former UFC champion and current fight night commentator Dominick Cruz told MMA Junkie. “If they’re saying that, why would you have a face off? Why would you even take the risk if you’re Dana (White) 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. That’s what’s been put out. ‘Don’t test me or I’ll do it.’ And UFC will say, ‘Okay, we’re going to listen. Bring the security out.’”
“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,” Cruz said. “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.”
As Cruz said, Khamzat and Strickland want to see who’s tougher. Isn’t that what the cage is for?
