Props to two of the best for knowing when to say enough

After DJ’ing mobile parties and nightclubs for 30+ years, I am quick to deter anyone who is interested in getting into that business; that is because I feel it is an underappreciated field of endeavor. However, for my many reasons to feel this way, it cannot even begin to compare to the lack of appreciation a referee in any sport receives. No matter what they do, it is always going to be criticized by someone. Nowhere is this more prevalent than in combat sports such as boxing and mixed martial arts.

Yet for as much criticism as a referee receives, and in some cases justified, he or she is the person we must rely on not only to call a fair fight, but more importantly to possibly save someone’s life. This past weekend there were two vivid examples of this in high profile bouts in both sports and for all the negative press refs receive, I feel it is just that they receive some praise when it is due.

Herb Dean (pictured above) and Tony Weeks (pictured below)are both prominent referees in the sports of mixed martial arts and boxing respectively. Both are well known, have been around for awhile and most importantly are highly respected by their peers. Many outside the cage and ring consider them to be the preeminent examples of the third man within their sport.

All those adjectives and superlatives were justified this past Saturday when their final call in two separate championship bouts in both MMA and boxing were not only the right call, but quite possibly a life saving one in the long run. However, their decision to end the fights when they did was made even more special by knowing when to do it. They gave the losers in each fight the utmost opportunity to overcome their opponents, without hindering their safety.

Herb Dean is a veteran referee of over 3,500 MMA fights worldwide. He’s also been the referee of some of the most unique situations and historic endings in MMA history such as Tim Sylvia’s arm breaking when being caught in Frank Mir’s armbar submission at UFC 48 and Gabriel Gonzaga’s knockout victory over Mirko Cro-Cop at UFC 70. In both cases Dean played a prominent role in the outcome; thus there isn’t much he hasn’t seen or been through.

Besides that, he was a professional fighter himself with five professional fights from the early to mid 2000’s. That unique perspective came into play this past Saturday during the UFC heavyweight championship between champ Cain Velasquez and challenger Junior Dos Santos. In the third fight between these two, this latest installment pretty much played out like the second one with Velasquez laying a thorough beating on Dos Santos.

With Dean watching closely throughout, he gave the challenger every chance he could to possibly find a way as long as he was fighting back. That was until midway through the fifth and final round when a last ditch effort by Dos Santos to muster some form of submission, resulted in his forehead hitting the canvas directly. Noting it right away and realizing the champ was about to unleash some fury to his downed opponent, Dean stepped in to wave off the fight. In an already dazed state, Dos Santos was rescued from some possible irreversible damage from a dangerous and still strong champion.

Meanwhile, at around the same time in Denver, Colorado, a world championship boxing match was taking place as former WBO light welterweight champion Mike Alvarado, lost for only the second time in 36 fights when his fight was stopped by referee Tony Weeks after the 10th round of a scheduled 12 round fight. Part of that decision may have come from Alvarado himself, but it was only after Weeks had the resolve to confront the fighter face to face in his corner in between rounds.

Tony Weeks has been a professional referee for 17 years, dating back to 1996. His love of boxing made him pursue the profession in Arizona while working in the corrections system there. However, his passion led him to the state of Nevada in 2000 where he was licensed to work in the fight capital of the world, Las Vegas. Since then he has worked many high profile championship bouts including this past Saturday where Alvarado was defending his title against Ruslan Provodnikov.

Provodnikov is the same boxer, who earlier this year was part of possibly the fight of the year, excluding this past Saturday, against current WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley. His performance in the Bradley affair, even though it resulted in a decision loss, garnered him the shot against Alvarado.

A vicious puncher who keeps coming at you with a relentless attack to both the body and the head, Provodnikov shook off Alvarado’s early boxing effort to punish the champion. The beating was such that he dropped the former champ, who had never been dropped previously, twice in one round. Weeks took a close look at the former champ, who in desperation fought on valiantly.

However, after the 10th round, as Alvarado sat on his stool while his trainer was asking a clearly shaken fighter if he should stop the fight, Weeks took the initiative to bypass the cornerman and confront Alvarado face to face. He looked directly into the fighter’s eyes as he asked him how he felt and if he could continue. Seeing what he already knew when he knelt down before him, Weeks stood up and waved his arms signaling his decision to stop the fight.

There was no reluctance on Alvarado’s behalf as it looked as though he was relieved someone was smart enough to save him from himself. A true fighter’s mentality is to continue even in the face of defeat and quite possibly death if that is the case. It is a referee’s job to keep that from happening. In this case Herb Dean and Tony Weeks did that admirably for two great combatants who may now live to fight another day; props to two of the best in their respective professions for knowing when to say enough.

Give your baby a standing ovation

This past week the UFC had two fights they featured on Wednesday night. One was headlining a live 'Fight Night' card in Brazil, while the other was just the next fight in the on-going 'Ultimate Fighter' television series. One featured a grappler vs. grappler match, while the other was striker vs. striker. However, the most glaring comparison was one paired two male welterweight contenders, while the other featured two females trying to make a name for themselves and their sport, women's MMA.

In the end, the battle of the sexes on the same night wasn't even close. That's no slight towards welterweight (170 lbs.) contenders Demian Maia and Jake Shields as much as it is a compliment to bantamweights (135 lbs.) Jessamyn Duke and Raquel Pennington (pictured above). As you can see by the photo, Duke and Pennington went toe to toe for three rounds, in a fight many are calling a defining moment for women's MMA. Some are even saying that this fight may end up being the equivalent to what Forrest Griffin vs. Stephen Bonner was to MMA in general in the finale of 'TUF' season one; that fight was voted as the number fight in MMA history, so you can imagine what this fight was like to be mentioned in that same breath.

It wasn't so much that they went toe to toe as much as it was that Duke and Pennington (in blue) displayed a heart and determination that is rarely seen in most fights. It's the type of heart that you only speak about when you discuss legendary battles such as Griffin/Bonner or Gatti/Ward and Barrera/Morales in boxing; it will go down as a classic!

Now some may argue that I'm only saying this because the girls were striking versus grappling, thus I'm hating against the ground game. Let me begin by saying that as a student of the game, I love submission grappling and jiu-jitsu. Second, I'll respond by saying that Nick Diaz vs. Diego Sanchez is still one of my favorite fights of all-time and that was a three round non-stop tussle back and forth on the ground. However, that had something that the Maia/Shields bout didn't; action.

When the Demian Maia/Jake Shields fight was put together, I was actually looking forward to it. Finally you were pitting two undisputed jiu-jitsu masters against one another. Ultimately though that was the problem; this was not a jiu-jitsu match. This was a mixed martial arts fight and when push came to shove, when they did grapple on the ground they neutralized each other so much, it ended up being more a positioning game than anything else. In the end it was a disappointment in my eyes, though the fight was very close.

Duke/Pennington on the other hand was a pleasant surprise where one wasn't expected. Sure they took it to each other and both refused to back down, but they did so while showing skill and technique. These weren't two girls swinging arms wildly in a schoolyard. These ladies know how to fight and they displayed it with punch combinations, knee strikes in the clinch and an arsenal of kicks.

In the end it was Pennington's hand that was raised in a very narrow decision victory, but more importantly what these ladies did for women in MMA will ultimately be the bigger picture. They showed those who doubted that women can fight, they do belong in this sport and there is talent outside Ronda Rousey and Meisha Tate in his weight class. Are they at that level yet; probably not? However, on this one night these two ladies stole the show and showed the world that when it came to the battle of the sexes, it wasn't even close. Kudos ladies; as The Dells once sang, "Give your baby a standing ovation;" you girls deserve one!

What a difference a week makes in boxing

It was a just a week ago on Saturday night that the sport of boxing had itself another Britney Spears moment when they "Oops, did it again." What they did was rob a deserving Bryan Vera after he had fought his heart out and clearly defeated former middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. on points. A fight, originally scheduled to be 12 rounds, was fought for only 10 and I, along with most outside experts, had Vera winning eight of those 10 rounds; maybe only seven if I wanted to be generous to Chavez.

However, why would I want to be generous towards Chavez? What has he done to deserve anything; especially a gift decision from three so called ringside experts? All he's done is get suspended for nearly a year due to his lack of discipline when it comes to smoking the wacky weed of marijuana. Yet, this is not a slight towards marijuana smokers; it's a slight towards a spoiled brat who has not displayed any reason to think he is deserving of any glory that is attained from being a true boxing champion.

However, let's forget the lack of discipline when it comes to recreational marijuana smoking and focus on the lack of discipline towards his craft. A fight that was originally scheduled to be contested at 160 lbs., had to be adjusted numerous times because the lazy Chavez, Jr. would not put in the necessary work to make the weight. Thus, while Vera was primed to weigh-in at the agreed upon middleweight limit, he had to concede to fight the privileged namesake of his legendary father at nearly the light-heavyweight limit of 175 lbs.

Yet, besides all of that, he doesn't even have the courtesy to acknowledge that Vera took it to him and that he wasn't truly deserving of the victory. Instead, he made like his parental predecessor and came with nothing but excuses, claiming that Vera was continually using dirty tactics in the ring such as hitting low and head butting. Chavez, Jr. and that decision are what continue to hurt the great sport of boxing.

Ah, but wait; just when you think the glory days of boxing are dead, then comes along Miguel Cotto. A three-division champion who has had a storied career and at (38-4, 31 KO's) has lost only to the elite of the sport; Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Manny Pacquiao and Austin Trout. I, nor should anyone else, include Antonio Margarito in that class; let alone acknowledge that loss to Margarito considering what he has been found guilty of and Cotto clearly exposed in their second bout.

On Saturday night, Cotto (pictured above) was coming off two consecutive losses in his career, the first time he had experienced such a thing, and at 32 years old many, including myself, thought his best days were behind him. However, considering the true champion that he is and always has been he proved us all wrong. Never once making any excuses for his consecutive short comings against Mayweather and Trout, Cotto realized "defeat only meant there was something wrong in his doing," as the late Bruce Lee once said.

Thus, he turned to Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach who basically took the former champion back to the basics and what made Cotto such a scary fighter to begin with; a stalking, punishing body attack that is climaxed with a vicious left hook to the body and head. The result was a less than three round pummeling of former two-time world title challenger Delvin Rodriguez (28-7-3, 16 KO's).

Miguel Cotto is a shining example of what the sport of boxing needs and should strive to be; a championship caliber athlete who is dedicated to his trade and does so while constantly displaying dignity and class. I know that's a lot to ask in the shady world of boxing, but in just one week we went from the worst the sport had to offer to just about the best. What a difference a week makes in boxing.

'Legends of Boxing' fight night is a knockout

Not your typical fight night at The Sands Event Center in Bethlehem, PA Thursday night as the boxing royalty that was in attendance made it feel more like you were inside a Las Vegas casino versus one in this old steel town. However, such was the case as 'The Legends of Boxing' tour kicked off their inaugural event with a seven fight card that featured a hometown hero in the main event.

Put together by Hall of Fame promoter Russell Peltz out of Philadelphia, 'The Legends of Boxing' event included former multi-division champion Thomas 'The Hitman' Hearns, former heavyweight contenders 'Gentleman' Gerry Cooney and Earnie 'The Acorn' Shavers and local favorite, former heavyweight champion Larry Holmes of nearby Easton, PA. Their attendance along with the fireworks provided by the next generation of fighters featured made for an exciting and fun evening of fights.

Before the main event the crowd in attendance stood as a memorial 10 count was tolled for former heavyweight champion Ken Norton, who passed away just last week before this gala featuring three former opponents from his own legendary career. In the main event, Bethlehem's own Ronald Cruz rode the wave of a second round knockout victory just six weeks ago and upped his record to (19-2, 14 KO's) with another KO win over a game Alberto Morales (11-3, 8 KO's) from Miami, Florida by way of Nicaragua in a welterweight contest; but it wasn't as easy as his last fight that's for sure.

Cruz, needed almost all 30 minutes of a 10 round war before finally catching Morales in the middle of the last round with a looping right cross that dropped the Nicaraguan in his corner. Morales beat the count and it looked like he may even survive the round, however Cruz (pictured above) caught him with another left-right combination that dropped him face first on the mat; this time there was no getting up as the ref waved it off.

Before that KO finish it appeared to be anybody's fight and many in the arena, including myself, thought Cruz may actually be losing. Apparently his corner thought so as well as in between the ninth and 10th round, Cruz's trainer Lemuel 'Indio' Rodriguez yelled at him and told him, "You need to get going." Cruz's manager and corner man Jimmy Deoria told me after the fight, "We told Ronald we felt he was losing by a point."

In my post fight interview with Cruz, I asked him what he thought when his corner told him they felt he was losing? He said, "I just thought to myself I can't let this happen again; I've worked too hard for this." His team's frantic requests for him to get going resulted in the kid known around his hometown as 'Hands of Steel', using those same heavy hands and possibly pulling victory straight out of the jaws of defeat; definitely an exciting finish to a back and forth main event that had the crowd on its feet at the end. While the thought before Thursday was to get Cruz one more bout before the end of 2013, time will tell if this fight took more out of him than it appeared.

In a featured bout, junior welterweights Jerome Rodriguez (6-0-1, 2 KO's) and Juan Serrano (3-8-1, 2 KO's) put on an entertaining six rounds of boxing. Ironically, it was a right hand from the upset minded Serrano of Killeen, Texas, which wobbled Rodriguez and seemed to stop him in his tracks for a moment; that inevitably woke up the slick southpaw from nearby Allentown, PA though. Before that punch it was pretty even, but after that it was all Rodriguez using a nice combination of head and body punches en route to earning a unanimous decision.

Junior lightweight Jason Sosa of Camden, NJ needed less than two rounds to up his record to (10-1-3, 7 KO's), as a punishing left to the stomach of Tyrone Luckey (5-4-1, 5 KO's), proved nothing but unlucky for the 130 pounder from Middleton, NJ. Sosa looks like a prospect to keep an eye on.

First fight of the night featured a scintillating debut as Berlin, New Jersey's Chris Diaz, fighting at 122 pounds, earned a second round TKO finish over Johnny Portillo out of Lancaster, PA. Diaz used crisp combinations capped off by a repeated vicious left hook to knock down Portillo three times in the second before the ref mercifully stopped it. While Diaz wins his first pro fight, Portillo drops to (0-2) with the loss.

Sometimes it's not about who won or lost

Going into Saturday night's light-heavyweight (205 lbs.) championship fight between challenger Alexander Gustafsson and champion Jon 'Bones' Jones, not many people gave too much credence to the thought that the slightly taller product of Stockholm, Sweden could actually give Jones a fight. I myself, though not totally dismissive, wasn't yet convinced he was on Jones's level as can be witnessed by my piece entitled, 'Could this be the next Jon Jones' written back in April, 2012. Click on the link below to check it out:

http://samalljam.blogspot.com/2012/04/could-this-be-next-jon-jones.html

However, some of the best things in life come when you least expect them and that is just what we got as mixed martial arts fans on Saturday night. Some have already begun to call it 'Fight of the Year', while UFC analyst Joe Rogan stated on air, "We have just seen the greatest light-heavyweight championship fight in UFC history." That is saying a lot considering the now world renowned Ultimate Fighting Championship is closing in on its 20th anniversary.

Even though Gustafsson (15-2, 9 KO's 3 subs) was coming into this fight riding a six fight win streak, including a win in his last fight against former champion Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua, everybody just figured that there was no particular area he was actually better at than Jones (19-1, 9 KO's 6 subs). While he's a great kickboxer, Jones's striking was evolving to the point where it was being referred to as next generation; and as for grappling, Jones, who is a wrestler by origin, had showed that his take down skills were good enough to manhandle such great wrestlers as Rashad Evans, Vladimir Matyushenko and Matt Hamill. Thus, he should have no problem taking down a 6'4" lanky Swedish kickboxer right?

Wrong is the answer as Gustafsson displayed fantastic take down defense, no doubt from training side by side with fellow UFC light-heavyweight contender Phil Davis. However, beyond that it was the damage he was actually able to inflict on the champion while doing so. Before Saturday night, the only fighter to even come close to touching Jones in any serious fashion was Lyoto Machida and that was in a back pedaling defense first approach that lasted one and a half rounds. Gustafsson actually took the fight to Jones and was connecting as can be witnessed by Jones face after the fight aptly shown in the photo above.

For three rounds the Swedish challenger was actually winning and doing so in a fashion no one could believe. Though Jones had moments throughout those first three rounds, there was no arguing he was behind at that point. However, in MMA rounds four and five are "championship rounds" and it takes a champion who's been there to understand what it takes to get through those extra 10 minutes.

Gustafsson's lack of experience clearly showed in those next two rounds as he started to slow down while Jones, admitting afterwards he was fighting with a little desperation, began to turn it up. The result was the champ connecting with punches, knees, elbows and kicks while also finally getting the take down he wasn't getting in the first three rounds. How Gustafsson didn't go down from some of those strikes is a testament not only to his chin, but his heart.

Yet, respect, including my own, has to be given to Jon Jones as well. I've admitted on numerous occasions openly and in print I'm not a Jones fan, for various reasons. However, I am a fan of combat sports and when a fighter displays as he stated after the fight, "A warrior spirit," you have to respect him for that. Jones ended up winning a unanimous decision, though not without debate which is to be expected in a close fight; but I think in the end Jones won a lot more in his performance. I believe he actually gained some respect from fans and his peers alike and in that sense, sometimes it's not about who won or lost.

World beware and get ready for this dynamic duo of MMA

My good friend MMA Junkie Radio host Gorgeous George Garcia is constantly heard saying, "Right now at this very moment, there are beasts around the world training that will become the next superstars of MMA." While we don't always agree on a lot of things, this is one thing we can both agree on. However, for me I don't need to look around the world for those "beasts," as I have two of them right here in my backyard

World beware as there is a dynamic duo of MMA right here in the Lehigh Valley. Step aside Batman and Robin as Scott Heckman and Rick Nuno (pictured above respectively) are ready to make their mark; as Rick Nuno told me, "Get ready, the Bash Brothers are coming." Though one is still relatively new to the game, in terms of fights and experience, the other is a veteran of 19 fights already, including three in the Bellator Fighting Championships. However, all those 19 fights have been in less than three and a half years; so he's been both busy and hungry.

Not just a beast, Scott 'The Animal' Heckman (15-4, 1 KO, 11 subs) is an animal as his nickname suggest. At 145 lbs. this featherweight becomes a monster when he gets in the cage. A ball of fire who is a wrestler by trade, Heckman tends to walk his opponents down, as an animal stalks his prey, and literally overwhelms them with punches, takedowns and his ground and pound before looking for the finish.

A product of Bangor, PA, Heckman began his college wrestling career at Bloomsburg University on full scholarship, where he qualified for nationals as a true freshman, before transferring to my Alma Mater East Stroudsburg University. After college, he wasn't sure what direction he wanted to go in, but as he told me, "I knew I was not ready for a desk job." A fan of MMA before he ever considered doing it, it was a chance to see a friend fight locally that cemented his career choice.

"At first, I thought MMA was only fought in the UFC and Strikeforce; I never realized there were other organizations out there you could fight in and work your way up to that level," he told me. However, once he found out, he went up to his friend's trainer, introduced himself and told him, "That's what I want to do." The trainer told him if he was serious to be at his gym Monday at a certain time and 19 pro fights later, the rest is history.

A lot has changed over the last few years, besides his game and skill level. Heckman is now a full time professional fighter who trains with the some of the elite of the sport at AMA Fight Club in New Jersey, his boxing with noted trainer Lemuel 'Indio' Rodriguez and his Strength and Conditioning with Craig Merrick at MADE S&C in Nazareth, PA. That combination resulted in a seven fight win streak that was derailed in his last fight in June, but not without controversy.

Heckman, who had recently won and was defending the XFE featherweight title, was dominating his opponent Terrell Hobbs in the first round. However at the beginning of the second is when an overhand right from his opponent resulted in a thumb going directly into his eye. From that point on as Heckman told me, "I was in survival mode." Unable to see, he told the referee whose only response was just, "keep fighting." Unable to defend himself, he inevitably gave up his back and neck resulting in a choke hold submission loss.

Heckman and his camp attempted to appeal the decision to the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission, trying to change the decision to a no-contest, but his appeal fell on deaf ears. Three months later, he's ready to put that behind him and get back to his winning ways next Saturday September 21st at the Valley Forge Casino as he fights for Caged Fury Fighting Championships @ CFFC 27. Besides the incentive of coming off a loss, Heckman has another motivating factor in his corner.

A week after that controversial defeat, he was quickly lifted from any possible setback as he got married to the love of his life Sara. I asked him how this monumental change in his life has impacted his MMA career and he said, "If anything it's had a positive impact. I can be hard to deal with sometimes, yet she's so positive. She's always supportive of my career and has become that final piece of my heart that will drive me to go all out."

On that same CFFC 27 card, Heckman's teammate lightweight (155 lbs.) Rick 'El Numero Uno' Nuno (2-1, 1 KO) will step into the cage as well. Coming off a big win at that same XFE card three months ago, Nuno, from Bethlehem, PA, looks to ride that momentum as he propels his career. Rick, who is a dynamite striker with super fast hands, has been working really hard at rounding out his overall MMA game.When asked specifically how his jiu-jitsu has been coming along, he told me, "It's coming really good. Training everyday at AMA with guys like Charlie Brenneman, the Main Brothers, Renzo Gracie black belt Jaime Cruz, UFC fighter Jimmy Hettis and of course Scott Heckman, it can't do anything but get better."

I asked Heckman first hand about Nuno and his response was even more impressive; "Here's a young kid that's going to be good. He already had the stand-up; we just transformed him into a complete fighter. When he first started I would get the best of him on the ground because that's my world, but that's no longer the case." Since Nuno also has the same circuit of trainers for MMA, boxing and strength and conditioning, I asked him what it's like training with Heckman every day. His response was, "We hit it off well right from the start. We both come from opposite ends of the spectrum as fighters, so we complement each other perfectly. Plus, because of his experience, I'm able to pick his brain."

Young in his career, but moving along nicely, I asked him where he would like to be a year from now in his career. Nuno responded by saying, "I'm not promised tomorrow or even my next fight. I want to keep working hard, get better and hopefully if an opportunity came along to get on either 'The Ultimate Fighter' or 'Fight Master' reality shows, I will be prepared."

Bellator has a show scheduled at The Sands Event Center in Bethlehem on November 22nd. Heckman, who's fought for Bellator before, has a signed a one fight deal to appear on that card. Nuno, as of now, is not scheduled to appear however he told me, "I'm all about it; I want to be on there, so if they call I will be ready to go." Bellator, UFC, world beware and get ready for this dynamic duo of MMA.

Nothing special, just be myself

It's barely been a month since welterweight contender Ronald Cruz (pictured at right) was last in the ring, yet on September 26, the young man known around his hometown of Bethlehem, PA as 'Hands of Steel' will do it once again for the hometown fans. This time though he'll do it in the main event as the headliner of a seven fight card that will also feature 'Legends of Boxing' in attendance.

That is the theme of the night as former champions and contenders Larry Holmes, Thomas Hearns, Gerry Cooney and Earnie Shavers will be in attendance at ringside inside the Sands Event Center in Bethlehem. Cruz meanwhile is the next generation as he puts his (18-2) record on the line against another up and comer in Alberto Morales (11-2) of Miami by way of Nicaragua. Morales, who is coming off a decision loss in his last bout which was for the NABA welterweight title, finds himself in the same situation Cruz was in before his last fight.

Undefeated through his first 11 bouts, he's lost two in a row, which means he's hungry. Cruz knows this feeling all too well because he too was in a two fight skid after winning his first 17 along with the WBC Continental Americas title. However, after a couple of changes to his training regimen and most importantly getting back to doing what he does best, he's riding the wave of a second round knockout victory last month.

When I asked Cruz if he minded fighting three fights in three months his response was, "If it were up to me, I'd keep this going every month as long as my health is okay. Training is not easy by any means, but once you go all in and you start to feel strong, you can't wait to get back in the ring." That training is something else that has Cruz excited and rejuvenated these days.

Continuing to work with boxing trainer Lemuel 'Indio' Rodriguez, along with strength and conditioning Coach Craig Merrick, Cruz feels he's the best he's ever been. "Craig is great at what he does; he believes if you give the body the same workout day in and day out, it will not reach its full potential," Cruz said. "That's why when I train with him it's different every time. Plus he's so knowledgeable about the human body, that when Indio explains to him what he wants to do, Craig formulates a program to go with it. He's been a big part of my turn around."  

However, the biggest part of his resurgence is something simple, yet very important. He told me, "In my last few fights I got away from doing what I do best. Fighting at home, I think I was trying to please the hometown fans so much that I was trying to hit a home run with every punch. However before my last fight, manager Jimmy (Deoria) and my trainer Indio both told me. "Don't do nothing special, just go out there and be yourself."

He did just that as he put his punches together and most importantly, unleashed the punishing body attack he had become know for; the rest is history. The scary thing is Cruz says we still haven't seen all he can do. "I'm a skillful fighter that still hasn't showed the world what I can do. When the next fighter pushes me, then you'll see." According to Cruz regarding his next opponent, "I saw some video on him and I see he likes to come forward and he likes to bang. That's perfect for me; I'm just going to go with the flow and do whatever it takes; nothing special, just be myself."