UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz appears to be unfazed by recent trash talk from aspiring title contender Cody Garbrandt.
Appearing as an analyst for Fox Sports as part of their coverage team at UFC 202, Cruz discussed a backstage confrontation that happened between him and Garbrandt earlier in the evening.
"Garbrandt's been running his mouth for a long time. After I got done fighting Faber, he was right there already jawing, talking about me polishing the belt and whatnot. And it's like, "Man, alright. Now you've disrespected me before I even knew who you were." I didn't even say one word to this man. I didn't even know who he was! No clue! I just thought he was an up-and-comer with crazy tattoos. I thought he was CM Punk for a second, and then he got it together and I was like, "Oh, shoot - that's not. That's the CM Punk of the 135 pound division, he's got all the hype behind him." So maybe I should just go in there, take the wind from his sails, and then move on and keep beating everybody else."
Fighting on the undercard of UFC 202, Garbrandt ran through Takeya Mizugaki, scoring a knockout victory in less than a minute. It marked the second consecutive first-round KO finish for Garbrandt, who went into UFC 202 as the No. 8 ranked contender in the bantamweight division. That status seems sure to rise for Garbrandt (10-0), who has scored nine of his 10 professional victories by knockout or TKO. Only one of his fights has gone the distance.
After the fight, during an interview with Joe Rogan, Garbrandt told Cruz, "I'm going to break your jaw."
Cruz (22-1), who regained the bantamweight title earlier this year after having to vacate it due to injury, has won 13 consecutive fights.
