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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Dominick Cruz is entering the cage at WEC 53 this week looking to defend his WEC Bantamweight Championship for a final time, and to enter the UFC as its first 135 lb. Champion. But he faces a very stiff test in Scott Jorgensen, and he touched on what he's got to work on and prepare for in an interview with Sherdog.com.
"The best way to explain Jorgensen is probably like a grimy fighter," Cruz said. He's the kind of guy that, when you hit him, he kinda gets more into the fight. As each round goes on, he starts to feel more and more comfortable in the cage. He's got a real ‘in your face’ style. He's in your face with pressure, with good steady boxing. His hands have gotten a lot quicker over the fights, that's one thing I've noticed. He's got a wicked guillotine. He's proved that in all of his fights, pretty much. So guillotine defense is gonna be key."
Cruz knows he needs to make the challenger fight his fight, and use his speed and elusiveness to avoid Jorgensen's "in your face style."
"In order for me to win this fight, I just need to do as I've done before: dictate the pace of the fight, stay very mobile, very hard to find, and keep a high tempo and a high pace in every aspect," Cruz said. "And just mix it up -- high-low, high-low. I can work a lot of ground game and I can take this fight wherever I need to. I'm in there trying to finish every single fight. I'm in there trying to kill the guy from beginning to end. I think everybody that I've gone in there with, I've rocked or hurt at some point in the fight, without a doubt."
"I've won a lot of fights this way, so I know what I'm doing. I know what I do right, I know what I do well, and I know I'm very good at it, and that gives me my confidence to continue to fight the way I fight."
Their bout takes place this Thursday on Versus from the Jobing.com arena in the final ever event for World Extreme Cagefighting.
Penick's Analysis: Cruz is an extremely mobile fighter and will make it difficult for Jorgensen to implement his gameplan in the fight. His ability to move in and out with his strikes and avoid counters makes him extremely hard to hit, and that's the thing Jorgensen's going to need to figure out. If he can close the distance and get his hands on Cruz, he'll be able to do damage, and as a scrappy fighter himself he should make for an exciting challenger. The winner of this fight will enter the UFC as the best bantamweight in the world, and will help usher the division into the organization. A lot is on the line in this one, but they should both be up to the task.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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