Come Sunday, who will leave the cage the UFC bantamweight champion?

TJ Dillashaw and Dominick Cruz will lock horns this weekend at UFC Fight Night 81 in a bantamweight title match that fans have been waiting for ever since Dillashaw, the current champion, shocked the world with his upset victory over former champ Renan Barao. Leading up to the fight there has been no shortage of trash talk, particularly by the former champ Cruz. A multitude of injuries have kept Cruz away from the cage for some time now, yet his sole fight within the last three years, a battering of the always tough and durable Takeya Mizugaki, showed that the former champ hasn’t lost a step. TJ Dillashaw has looked pretty impressive as of late beating Renan Barao twice and a game but overmatched Joe Soto. Now that we have some of the particulars out of the way, let’s give a moment to truly appreciate what’s going to be going down this Sunday. TJ freaking Dillashaw versus Dominick freaking Cruz! Ahem. You’ll have to pardon the explosion of emotions I’m feeling at the fact that these two will finally get to fight. Cruz is a master of movement and tactics while Dillashaw’s improved striking has made him a very real knockout threat for anyone at 135 pounds. As far as striking goes, this match should be a pleasure to watch with Dillashaw having the power advantage while Cruz has the speed and tactical advantage. Many people are pointing to the power in the champ’s strikes as the decider in this fight, but the reality is that power won’t come into play as much as tactics and footwork. While Dillashaw has adopted a great deal of fancy footwork into his striking arsenal, the truth of the matter is that he hasn’t faced a fighter who moves quite like Cruz. Hell, he borrowed some of the movements that have made Cruz so successful in the past. The problem with that is Cruz may be the superior cage general when it comes to controlling distance. While many onlookers may perceive Dominick Cruz’s movement as some kind of elaborate form of dancing and running, the reality is that Cruz uses footwork and feints unlike anyone else in the UFC. He uses a multitude of feints to get a reaction out of his opponent to see exactly how he should approach them. If he closes the distance and gets aggressive or if he decides to back away, circle and counter strike, it’s all apart of his game plan, one that begins with those feints. He locks in your reactions each time he fakes and files it away into his data banks. Once he has an understanding of what you wish to accomplish, whether that mean counter his movements or move forward with aggression, Cruz is ready for any circumstance. The striking of TJ Dillashaw has improved leaps and bounds since he began training with Duane Ludwig. He can fight in both stances, he sets up his strikes well with jabs and feints of his own, and to top it all off he has decent power in his strikes. Dillashaw has become a smooth striker, yet his speed isn’t exactly the best. He knows how to pick and choose when to attack. But it seems that the biggest flaw in Dillashaw’s game, besides his lack of speed, is his tactics. Dillashaw usually tends to have one mode of fighting: moving forward. His aggression has helped him in the past, but he’s dealing with a fighter in Cruz that knows how and when to blend his techniques together. Dillashaw will have to look for multiple options if he hopes to catch Cruz off guard. The X-Factor in this match up will likely be the wrestling. While Dillashaw may boast an impressive wrestling game allowing very few takedowns, he’s never faced an opponent who blended their wrestling so well into their technique. Remember those feints I mentioned before? Well, depending on how TJ Dillashaw reacts to those feints Dominick Cruz will know exactly when he should switch gears and take his opponent down. If the champion is overly aggressive as he tends to be then he’ll likely find himself on his back at least once or twice during the match. Cruz has some of the best reactive takedowns in the game and uses his unique brand of striking to get his opponents to over commit. That’s when he’ll likely change levels to give Dillashaw something to think about. The champ may resort to going to takedowns himself, but as Dillashaw hasn’t shown as much proficiency for blending his wrestling into his striking, I’m thinking Cruz will see the shots coming a mile away. Another X-Factor will be whether or not Cruz remains healthy and can go five hard rounds. Other athletes have had ACL injuries and have come back to performing very well, namely Georges St. Pierre and Conor McGregor. For Cruz it will all come down to being well prepared for the war ahead, which I’m thinking he is. The Verdict: Dominick Cruz defeats TJ Dillashaw by decision. Who do you think will win the match up between TJ Dillashaw and Dominick Cruz? Let us know in the comments and forums. Also, be sure to follow Generation Iron MMA on Facebook and Twitter. Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor and geek culture enthusiast. Follow him on Twitter and keep up with his latest exploits.