Some Topics covered:
-Biggest change in his life since becoming champion
-Wanting to fight Jose Aldo and why so soon
-His strengths against Jose Aldo and how he would beat him
-The flack that Aldo gets for not finishing fights, etc
-What he respects about Aldo and Barao's camp
-If he felt sorry for Barao after he didn't make weight
-Barao not deserving the rematch to begin with
-Thoughts on Dominick Cruz's octagon return
-A breakdown of what he does better than Cruz
-If he feels like he has to beat Dominick Cruz to truly be the Bantamweight champion
-Update on his elbow injury/surgery
-Conor not deserving of a title shot
-Dodson rematch not making any sense
-Nickname NOT being "The Viper"
-Team Alpha Male Christmas carols
-If he'd rather be named after a McDonald's item or a font
Some Quotes:
On wanting to fight Aldo
“You know I was on TeamAlphaMaleRadio.com - we have our own podcast - and it was after Chad Mendes' fight, we were talking about the fight and how close it was, and you know Aldo as a champion, and I just believe that I could beat the guy. You know watching his style, he's very similar to Barao, and I feel like I have the right style to beat him. And it’s just, me you know just playing with the confidence, and that obviously I know I need to hold my belt for a few more fights and look dominant once I’m done with Cruz, and make sure I’m dominant at 135 before I even think about going to a different weight class and try and capture another belt. But once I got the UFC belt I had to set to set some goals, and that was maybe be the first one to have two belts at the same time. And looking at Aldo fighting, I just know that I could beat him.”
TJ's Strengths against Jose Aldo and Aldo being predictable
“My foot work and my style of fighting. I have a certain style that I worked on for beating Renan Barao and I feel like it could be very effective against Jose Aldo. I think almost, I wouldn't say easier; don’t get me wrong that’s a really, really, really tough fight, but Jose Aldo in my mind is a very predictable fighter. He does the same thing every time he comes out and fights, and I just have the belief to be able to come out and beat him. And that will take you a long way.”
What he respects about Jose Aldo and Barao
"He's a very dangerous opponent and very technically and structurally sound. He doesn't do anything wrong, he's never in bad positions and he's always got his hands up, you know he's throwing the technique perfectly. He's a great champion, and he's obviously on the pound for pound list in the right spots. Yeah so I have a lot of respect, not only for Barao, but that whole camp. Everything that [Andre] Pederneiras has done with all those guys. Barao was an amazing champion as well, you know. There's no lack of respect for those guys. I've looked up to what they've done, the history of what they've done. You can't take that away from them.
Thoughts on Cruz’s comments about Team Alpha Male ("Alpha Fails")
“You know me and Dominick Cruz have always had a respectful relationship. Him and Urijah have had words and don’t like each other and that’s what it all comes down to. It's him just kinda putting it back in Urijah’s face, that he’s out there winning and looking good, and it’s nothing but good for me because of the fact that it’s going to sell fights. He’s going to talk all this crap and be as confident as he wants to be, but really it’s just going to make it harder on himself when he loses. it's gonna put more pressure on him when he steps in the octagon to against me. It’s going to do nothing but drive the numbers up and it’s going to be a great fight. I never talked to anybody that wasn’t excited about this fight. Like I said, it’s just selling it big time.”
Thoughts on Cruz's Octagon return
"Not so much technique based, but I was more impressed with him fighting aggressive. You know I've always seen Dominick Cruz fighting kind of on the outside, pitter-pattering, and moving around, and just winning fights by points. I mean, this might be his first finish ever. And for it to finally come this far out in his career, it's impressive. It's good for him that he's finally getting that killer instinct, but I'm also gonna use that against him. He's gonna switch his style up, he's gonna get a little too aggressive I think and he's gonna wear himself out, and my cardio's gonna last forever."
On what TJ believes he does better than Cruz
“I knock people out, you know I finish fights, I’m aggressive, I’m coming at you. There’s never one point in time you can let your guard down; 'cause if you do, you’re going to get knocked out. And Dominick Cruz, he’s a lot less dangerous, he doesn’t have the power behind his punches because he doesn't settle his feet. You know he’s always dipping out of the way, and throwing his punches, and when you're doing that, you can’t deliver any power behind your punches. Yeah sure it’s flashy and you score a lot points, yeah. But I can do the exact same thing but then bring some power with it and be a little bit lethal and dangerous. I think my combo’s are more technical, I stay a little bit tighter than he does, and I feel like my grappling is a whole lot better than him. He uses anti-Jiu Jitsu. He uses takedowns to score points, and I’m trying to take you down and finish you. I’m going to stay on top of him and leach on to him, and I just feel I'm a whole lot more dangerous than him in every aspect in MMA.”
Thoughts on Conor McGregor getting the next shot at Aldo and who would win between the two
“I don’t agree with Conor McGregor getting a title shot, especially after beating Dennis Siver, if he does. You know like why is that deserving of a title shot? Dennis Siver is not on the way up, he's not up there looking for a title shot himself. Why not put Conor McGregor vs. Frankie Edgar? Why not put Conor McGregor against Chad Mendes, or Lamas, or one of those top guys, who’s actually pushing for the belt? You know? Just because he has the hype behind him, and he's been talking a big game, and he's going to sell tickets, I just don’t think it’s right to surpass the Frankie Edgars, the guys that could beat Conor McGregor. I think Frankie Edgar would destroy Conor McGregor. Chad Mendes would destroy Conor McGregor. We haven’t seen Conor McGregor fight a wrestler or a top name. He beat Poirier with a fluke in the back of the head in my mind, I was excited to see that fight go down, but I wanted to see it go longer. Do I think Conor McGregor is a great fighter? Yes, he’s awesome. He’s really good, he’s confident, he has great stand up and he’s tricky, but I just don't feel like he's deserving yet. I don’t think he should surpass those guys to get the shot; and if he does, the thing is if he does fight Aldo he does have a chance because it’s going to be a stand up battle. And then Aldo doesn’t have that threatening takedown skills, and going to try and tap you, or ground and pound you. So it’s tough. I don’t think he should get the title fight because he doesn’t deserve it, but it’s going to be a close fight in my mind.”
On a rematch with Dodson
“It's so funny to hear those questions because for one, Dodson hasn’t even fought at 135 other than the Ultimate Fighter finale. You know I don’t think he gets a rematch until he can establish himself at the weight class. Like he’s not even the champion at 125, why should he get to fight me? If he wants to fight [me he needs to] prove that he could beat some of the top 5 guys in the weight class, which I don’t think he can. So unless he can prove that, I mean I would love to fight the guy again, but again it’s another situation where he’s just not deserving of a rematch.”
On his dream opponent for the Supershow at the 56,000 seat Etihad Stadium in Melbourne
“I would love to fight in Melbourne, it be awesome. You know I’ve been and I taught some seminars when Joseph [Benavidez] fought out in Sydney, and it’s a really cool place. I’d love to come out and fight out there. Opponent wise, you know I don’t know who’d be next after Cruz. It all depends on what goes down and who wins their fights. My dream opponent is just the number one contender. You know I could beat the best that’s already in line [Cruz]. I think it'd be even cooler If I actually got to fight Aldo at 145, that would be sweet. Since we talked about it, that would be an awesome match up for me.”
