Mixed martial arts fans widely regard UFC commentator Dominick Cruz as one of the most skilled fighters in the sport’s history. But on Friday, his knowledge of the UFC’s history was called into question when he made a list regarding some of the biggest upsets in the last five years that was interesting, to say the least.
UFC 305 is set to kick off Saturday night in Perth, Australia, a fight card headlined by a middleweight championship fight between Dricus Du Plessis and Israel Adesanya.
On Friday, the fighters on the card weighed in for their respective upcoming fights on the UFC weigh-in show, which featured Cruz as a panelist.
While breaking down the upcoming headliner fight, Cruz discussed the path that Du Plessis has had to become the middleweight champion, which included winning the belt over Sean Strickland at UFC 297 earlier this year.
Cruz seemingly saw the win by Du Plessis as a huge upset. In fact, he listed it as the biggest upset that we have seen in the UFC in the last five years.
Dom Cruz picks DDP – Strickland as his biggest upset in the last 5 years. #UFC305 pic.twitter.com/kW0dfXnGnl
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) August 16, 2024
The only problem is that the only thing that Cruz is going strictly off here is his own opinion. The actual betting odds in the fight told a very different story. By the time the fight actually took place, it was Du Plessis, not Strickland, who closed as the favorite in the fight.
For reference, the rest of the fights on Cruz’s list were all fights where the fighters who won were actually significant underdogs in the betting market. The No. 2 fight on the list from Cruz, a fight between Julianna Pena versus Amanda Nunes, was a far more deserving candidate to be No. 1, as Pena was a +500 underdog to win the fight before doing just that.
Maybe Cruz doesn’t quite understand what qualifies as an upset. Or maybe he just viewed Strickland as the far better fighter than Du Plessis in that matchup. But either way, fight fans were quick to correct Cruz’s incorrect list on social media.
What in the name of Zeus is Dominick Cruz thinking? https://t.co/zNs5Ufwz2M
— Jed Meshew II (@JedKMeshew) August 16, 2024
Dricus closed as a favorite… tf 😂😂😂 https://t.co/tB1PMIO6Py
— JFT (@JFT_Videos) August 17, 2024
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.