{"id":401390,"date":"2021-12-10T15:15:10","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T23:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=401390"},"modified":"2021-12-10T15:15:10","modified_gmt":"2021-12-10T23:15:10","slug":"dominick-cruz-believes-he-should-be-talked-about-as-a-title-contender-after-ufc-269","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/dominick-cruz-believes-he-should-be-talked-about-as-a-title-contender-after-ufc-269\/","title":{"rendered":"Dominick Cruz believes he should be talked about as a ‘title contender’ after UFC 269"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dominick Cruz believes he deserves to be in the title picture at bantamweight.<\/p>\n

Cruz is set for his second fight of 2021<\/a> as he battles Pedro Munhoz on the prelims in an intriguing matchup. The former champ is coming off a split decision win over Casey Kenney and should he beat Munhoz, Cruz believes he deserves to be in the title conversation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that any time I\u2019m competing, you should be talking about me as a title contender. I\u2019m here to compete to be the best,” Cruz said at UFC 269 media day<\/a>. “I\u2019m not here to just play around. I\u2019m here to keep going up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given his name and his legacy, there is no question Cruz is always in the title conversation at bantamweight. However, the top of the division is clogged with Yan-Sterling having to have their rematch, and TJ Dillashaw and Jose Aldo at the top. But, if Cruz wins, there is no question he will be right there for a big fight next time out.<\/p>\n

\"Dominick<\/p>\n

In order for Dominick Cruz to even be considered in the title picture, he needs to beat Munhoz on Saturday night. It’s a tough matchup for the former champ as he knows the Brazilian is dangerous on the feet and on the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cPedro\u2019s obviously one of the best in the world to me. Nothing but respect. I mean, the guy carries himself like a professional, and he\u2019s just, I mean, I\u2019ve seen him knock people out,” Cruz said. “He\u2019s a knockout artist is how I view him, and he\u2019s a grappling finisher. So to me, he\u2019s a finisher. He\u2019s always going for the finish one way or another.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the focus is on Munhoz, Cruz only makes it clear he just wants to work his way up the bantamweight ranks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking to climb the ladder and not anything else,\u201d Cruz said. \u201cJust move up in a forward direction. That\u2019s it. Right up the mountain to the top.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you think Dominick Cruz beats Pedro Munhoz at UFC 269?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dominick Cruz believes he deserves to be in the title picture at bantamweight. Cruz is set for his second fight of 2021 as he battles Pedro Munhoz on the prelims in an intriguing matchup. The former champ is coming off a split decision win over Casey Kenney and should he beat Munhoz, Cruz believes he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54463,"featured_media":401391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[10131,39610],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nDominick Cruz believes he should be talked about as a 'title contender' after UFC 269 | BJPenn.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dominick Cruz wants to be in the title mix at bantamweight and he believes he is as anytime he fights he belongs in the conversation.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/dominick-cruz-believes-he-should-be-talked-about-as-a-title-contender-after-ufc-269\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dominick Cruz believes he should be talked about as a 'title contender' after UFC 269 | BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dominick Cruz wants to be in the title mix at bantamweight and he believes he is as anytime he fights he belongs in the conversation.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/dominick-cruz-believes-he-should-be-talked-about-as-a-title-contender-after-ufc-269\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"| BJPenn.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-12-10T23:15:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Dominick-Cruz.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"696\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"399\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Cole Shelton\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@bjpenndotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@bjpenndotcom\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Cole Shelton\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/dominick-cruz-believes-he-should-be-talked-about-as-a-title-contender-after-ufc-269\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/dominick-cruz-believes-he-should-be-talked-about-as-a-title-contender-after-ufc-269\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Cole Shelton\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/700e11a4d77666aed250058808e16134\"},\"headline\":\"Dominick Cruz believes he should be talked about as a ‘title contender’ after UFC 269\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-10T23:15:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-12-10T23:15:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/dominick-cruz-believes-he-should-be-talked-about-as-a-title-contender-after-ufc-269\/\"},\"wordCount\":364,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Dominick Cruz\",\"UFC\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/dominick-cruz-believes-he-should-be-talked-about-as-a-title-contender-after-ufc-269\/#respond\"]}],\"copyrightYear\":\"2021\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/dominick-cruz-believes-he-should-be-talked-about-as-a-title-contender-after-ufc-269\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/dominick-cruz-believes-he-should-be-talked-about-as-a-title-contender-after-ufc-269\/\",\"name\":\"Dominick Cruz believes he should be talked about as a 'title contender' after UFC 269 | BJPenn.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-12-10T23:15:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-12-10T23:15:10+00:00\",\"description\":\"Dominick Cruz wants to be in the title mix at bantamweight and he believes he is as anytime he fights he belongs in the conversation.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/dominick-cruz-believes-he-should-be-talked-about-as-a-title-contender-after-ufc-269\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/dominick-cruz-believes-he-should-be-talked-about-as-a-title-contender-after-ufc-269\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/dominick-cruz-believes-he-should-be-talked-about-as-a-title-contender-after-ufc-269\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"MMA News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"UFC\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Dominick Cruz believes he should be talked about as a ‘title contender’ after UFC 269\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\",\"name\":\"| BJPenn.com\",\"description\":\"MMA & UFC News, Results & Fight Videos\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization\",\"name\":\"| BJPenn.com\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bj_penn_logo_amp.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bj_penn_logo_amp.png\",\"width\":600,\"height\":148,\"caption\":\"| BJPenn.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/bjpenn\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/bjpenn\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/bjpenndotcom\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/0fficialbjpenn\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bjpenndotcom\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/700e11a4d77666aed250058808e16134\",\"name\":\"Cole Shelton\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/author\/cole-shelton\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dominick Cruz believes he should be talked about as a 'title contender' after UFC 269 | BJPenn.com","description":"Dominick Cruz wants to be in the title mix at bantamweight and he believes he is as anytime he fights he belongs in the conversation.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/dominick-cruz-believes-he-should-be-talked-about-as-a-title-contender-after-ufc-269\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dominick Cruz believes he should be talked about as a 'title contender' after UFC 269 | BJPenn.com","og_description":"Dominick Cruz wants to be in the title mix at bantamweight and he believes he is as anytime he fights he belongs in the conversation.","og_url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/dominick-cruz-believes-he-should-be-talked-about-as-a-title-contender-after-ufc-269\/","og_site_name":"| BJPenn.com","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn","article_published_time":"2021-12-10T23:15:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":696,"height":399,"url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Dominick-Cruz.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Cole Shelton","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@bjpenndotcom","twitter_site":"@bjpenndotcom","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Cole Shelton","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/dominick-cruz-believes-he-should-be-talked-about-as-a-title-contender-after-ufc-269\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/dominick-cruz-believes-he-should-be-talked-about-as-a-title-contender-after-ufc-269\/"},"author":{"name":"Cole Shelton","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/700e11a4d77666aed250058808e16134"},"headline":"Dominick Cruz believes he should be talked about as a ‘title contender’ after UFC 269","datePublished":"2021-12-10T23:15:10+00:00","dateModified":"2021-12-10T23:15:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/dominick-cruz-believes-he-should-be-talked-about-as-a-title-contender-after-ufc-269\/"},"wordCount":364,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Dominick Cruz","UFC"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/dominick-cruz-believes-he-should-be-talked-about-as-a-title-contender-after-ufc-269\/#respond"]}],"copyrightYear":"2021","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/dominick-cruz-believes-he-should-be-talked-about-as-a-title-contender-after-ufc-269\/","url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/dominick-cruz-believes-he-should-be-talked-about-as-a-title-contender-after-ufc-269\/","name":"Dominick Cruz believes he should be talked about as a 'title contender' after UFC 269 | BJPenn.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-12-10T23:15:10+00:00","dateModified":"2021-12-10T23:15:10+00:00","description":"Dominick Cruz wants to be in the title mix at bantamweight and he believes he is as anytime he fights he belongs in the conversation.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/dominick-cruz-believes-he-should-be-talked-about-as-a-title-contender-after-ufc-269\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/dominick-cruz-believes-he-should-be-talked-about-as-a-title-contender-after-ufc-269\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/dominick-cruz-believes-he-should-be-talked-about-as-a-title-contender-after-ufc-269\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"MMA News","item":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"UFC","item":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/ufc\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Dominick Cruz believes he should be talked about as a ‘title contender’ after UFC 269"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#website","url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/","name":"| BJPenn.com","description":"MMA & UFC News, Results & Fight Videos","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#organization","name":"| BJPenn.com","url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bj_penn_logo_amp.png","contentUrl":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/bj_penn_logo_amp.png","width":600,"height":148,"caption":"| BJPenn.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/instagram.com\/bjpenn","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/bjpenn","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/bjpenndotcom\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/0fficialbjpenn","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bjpenn","https:\/\/twitter.com\/bjpenndotcom"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/#\/schema\/person\/700e11a4d77666aed250058808e16134","name":"Cole Shelton","url":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/author\/cole-shelton\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401390"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/54463"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}