Coach Ludwig says rematch with Cruz or Faber would be ‘fair’ after Dillashaw 'robbery'

Striking coach Duane Ludwig is adamant his charge T.J. Dillashaw was robbed of a victory over new UFC bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz, and a rematch or a grudge match with Urijah Faber would only be fair.

In an interview today with MMAjunkie, Ludwig spared few expletives in his assessment of the scoring at Sunday’s UFC Fight Night 81, which saw Cruz take the belt via split decision in a FOX Sports 1-televised headliner at Boston’s TD Garden.

“I felt we won the fight,” Ludwig said. “We won the first round, the fourth round and the fifth round. Three rounds to two, we won. It was a bad call.”

Judge Dave Ginsberg saw the fight 48-47 for Cruz (21-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) , giving him the first three rounds with Dillashaw (12-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) getting the fourth and fifth. Veteran judge Tony Weeks, meanwhile, gave Cruz rounds two through four. The third judge, Sal D’Amato, also a UFC veteran, was the lone dissenter for Dillashaw, awarding Dillashaw rounds one, three, four and five.

In a familiar refrain among fighters and coaches, Ludwig blasted officials for what he felt was an ignorance to the effect of Dillashaw’s punches and weight toward the strikes he missed.

“Tony Weeks doesn’t know what the (expletive) he is doing,” he said. “These judges have to earn a blue belt in jiu-jitsu and for one or two years Thai box – not cardio kickboxing at the UFC gym, so they know exactly what the (expletive) they’re doing. Lives and livelihoods are on the line when they make these (expletive) up calls, and it’s not right.

“But that aside, we should have finished the fight. I’ll accept responsibility. Maybe we need to adjust the game plan a little bit. Cruz was pretty tricky.”

Returning from a year-plus layoff due to his second torn ACL, Cruz, who was stripped of the belt due to a previous layoff following another torn ACL, engaged Dillashaw with his characteristic flurry of footwork and hit-and-run attacks, often forcing Dillashaw to chase him with punches.

Although UFC commentators made note of the now ex-champ’s misses, and stats from the bout indicated a greater rate of connection for Cruz, Ludwig counters that many of Dillashaw’s strikes were not necessarily designed to connect.

Rather, they were to set up future strikes.

“The leg kicks, the kicks to the head, all the clean, power shots,” Ludwig said. “Just the overall quality strikes. I know Fightmetric’s out there saying T.J. missed a bunch of shots. We throw shots on purpose to make you move, to create other openings.”

Although Ludwig gives Cruz credit for using his distance effectively and ultimately going five rounds with Dillashaw, he wasn’t thrown off by the new champ’s movement.

“Some of the shots we legitimately missed, 100 percent,” he said. “But a lot of those shots are shots that we train in our system, that we throw to create other openings. It’s just coming from an uneducated standpoint.”

Moving forward, Ludwig said his team will take the same steps it does after every fight, win or lose. They will look to improve on the previous performance by focusing on the skills they need to adjust.

Tonight, Ludwig said he’ll review the fight for the first time with Dillshaw, who’s returning to his new home in the Denver area, where he moved following his contentious departure from the team that shaped him into a world-class MMA fighter, Sacramento, Calif.’s Team Alpha Male.

Dillashaw’s next move depends on two things: Cruz’s health and the UFC’s plans for the division. The new champ, who said he’s undecided on his immediate future, could face a significant suspension for a previously existing leg condition, plantar fasciitis, which results in pain and inflammation in the foot and heel.

There’s also not a clear indication of what’s next for Cruz as far as title challenges, though there were indications that former WEC champ Urijah Faber (33-8 MMA, 9-4 UFC), a rival to both Dillashaw and Cruz, could be next in line. Faber has campaigned for a rematch with Cruz, who beat him in 2011 to retain his title

“I would like to see either an immediate rematch, because I know T.J. jacked (Cruz’s) leg up pretty good, so I know he’s going to be out for awhile,” Ludwig opined. “And if they want to put us with Faber? I’m OK with that fight. I know Faber’s looking for a payday, so let’s go sock up Faber, stay busy, and when Cruz’s gets healthy, let’s do it again. That’s fair and just.”

Ludwig and Faber, of course, share a well-documented rivalry stemming from Ludwig’s departure as Team Alpha Male’s head coach. Ludwig accused Faber of not honoring his obligations while Faber accused Ludwig of improper and racist behavior at the gym.

This past October, Dillashaw moved full-time to a sponsored spot at Denver’s Elevation Fight Team and was banned at Team Alpha Male, though Ludwig said he had already begun the process of separating from Team Alpha Male in his previous fight camp. He said the switch was good for his preparation and denied it had any negative effect in preparing for Cruz.

If a fight with Faber was next, it certainly would cross one rival off Ludwig’s list.

“(Faber) barely beat a tough journeyman in his last fight (against Frankie Saenz),” Ludwig said. “He doesn’t deserve to fight a top-five guy. There’s a great emotional drama to get that shot, (though), so let’s give it to him. Go kick him in the face, put it behind us, and get the rematch with Cruz. That scenario is fair and just.

“But if Cruz is healthy to get back to it during the summer, let’s do that. It depends on Cruz’s health issue.”

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 81, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.