Former UFC champ Dominick Cruz: Welcome to the big leagues, Carla Esparza

Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Carla Esparza

Dominick Cruz knows the demands that come with owning a UFC belt, and he minces no words about the challenges ahead for those who hope to get and keep one.

“You’re shocked with the pressure,” he told MMAjunkie Radio. “It will flip your head around and bring you to reality super-fast when you become a world champion.”

Cruz once held the UFC bantamweight championship before injuries stymied his career. He said when he held the belt, the role of titleholder only made his life as a fighter more difficult.

“To be honest, you get a bigger job,” said Cruz, who serves as a UFC analyst for FOX Sports while he recovers from another knee injury. “You basically become the manager of your division. Are you up for that challenge?”

At this past Saturday’s UFC 185, Cruz watched Carla Esparza’s utter collapse at the hands of Joanna Jedrzejczyk and said the now-former women’s strawweight champ succumbed to the pressures of being at the top of her division.

“From this, she’s going to grow and become a better fighter,” Cruz added. “Don’t count her out. But she does need to figure out a way to become more mentally tough through those situations.”

Esparza, a former Invicta FC champion, transitioned to the UFC as a cast member of “The Ultimate Fighter 20.” A favorite to win the show, she did not disappoint and won three straight fights before claiming the inaugural UFC women’s strawweight belt this past December.

Esparza (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) got almost no time to rest after her win, jumping back into training camp to prepare for Jedrzejczyk (10-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC), who upset Claudia Gadelha to earn a title shot.

In a previous interview with MMAjunkie, the new champ spoke about her added media responsibilities as a champion, which, according to Cruz, is only part of the stressors that accompany the role.

There’s more media – training, for instance, after a 14-hour media day. But there’s also training on the road, recruiting training partners to accompany you while you travel, and training in less than ideal environments.

“You don’t realize that everything is not at your fingertips like you think is going to happen when you’re a world champion,” he said. “Are you ready to be putting in double as much work as everybody else because you’re the champion?

“These are all things that hit you right when you become the champion, and you don’t realize, holy cow, it’s harder to be a champion than become one. That’s what people don’t get.”

Of course, there are exceptions to the rule. Cruz mentioned UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey as an example of someone who doesn’t let her professional obligations get in the way of her abilities as a fighter.

Rousey is arguably busier than any other UFC champ, shooting movies and doing PR tours between fights, and still maintains to dominate opponents in the promotion’s octagon.

She does all that, said Cruz, without a single complaint.

“Rousey, you’ll never hear her mention one thing of her responsibilities, because it comes with the territory,” Cruz said. “When you start saying those things, you just weren’t ready for the challenge and that’s why you lost the position. So we’ll see. Maybe the next person that’s in that position can handle the challenge better and move forward.”

And what of Esparza, who said she didn’t quite feel like herself in the cage that night?

“I understand what she’s saying, but she needs to understand: Welcome to the big leagues,” Cruz said.

For complete coverage of UFC 185, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

MMAjunkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show, available on SiriusXM channel 92, is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.