There’s hinting at things and then there’s Faber hitting the red button and igniting WW3. Cruz and Faber don’t like each other. It’s very clearly personal between the two which means that instead of boring, somewhat canned and rote trash talk, you get this. From Faber talking to the guys at Submission Radio:
“I’ve seen a drastic change in his body from the very first time that I fought him, to a year later when he fought, when he took the whole year off and came back all ripped. Then he looked pretty good two years ago when he made his long-awaited return, physically. And then all of a sudden he’s got floppy boobs and back fat. I mean, there’s no secret what’s going on there – and I know he knows it. The truth is, I’ve looked the same since I’ve been like 13-years-old. I’ve continued to be an athlete, I’ve continued to stay healthy. There’s something fishy going on there, and he knows and I know, that there’s a big advantage coming to me because of that. And I’ll just leave that at that and let USADA do their job.”
Again. That’s not a “Well, isn’t it funny how people in general look different” deal – it’s almost pure defamation. Even though Cruz is perhaps the perfect fighter in MMA history (health issues aside) and Faber is passed his prime, it’s things like this that just add so much freaking anticipation to their fight. Personally, their second fight is one of my all-time favorites. Faber may have lost a step or two since then, and Cruz had approximately 89 surgeries but fuck it: I can’t wait for these two to fight.
UFC 199 in June cannot get here soon enough.
