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On the latest episode of the Anik & Florian podcast, the two commentators were joined by a fellow broadcaster, the former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz.
Despite having not fought in over a year, Cruz still intends to remain an active member of the UFC's bantamweight division.
That means that whilst he is commentating for the promotion, he will often be calling the fights of his potential future opponents.
As the #9-ranked 135-pounder on the roster, Anik brought up to Cruz a question about how he approaches that difficult scenario of hyping up a bantamweight rival.
Specifically mentioning last weekend's match-up between Jonathan Martinez and Adrian Yanez, Anik phrased the question in unforgettable fashion.
"It's always interesting for me to hear you talk about juxtaposition that you're in when it comes to calling fights of your bantamweight contemporaries right, as the guy who built this division as this division's most decorated champion.
Now, Ken-Flo dealt with this a little bit during his career where he was having to put over fellow lightweights and especially on MMA live, he had to do it all the time, but he wasn't always having to do it calling fights. Like, Jonathan Martinez is a guy that has asked for a fight with you publicly and then you gotta go on television and s**k his d**k for 15-25 minutes you know."
Dominick Cruz Says That Commentating On Fighters That Call Him Out Is Just Part Of The Job That He Has To Balance
Cruz isn't the only fighter to balance his career with commentary duties.
During his role as a commentator, Paul Felder has been active, retired and then come back into the USADA testing pool again and that's not to mention the likes of Daniel Cormier and Brandon Moreno.
It can't be easy to remain unbiased and do the required job when the fighter you're talking about has been open about wanting to face you but that is part of the territory that "The Dominator" signed up for.
Giving his response, Cruz spoke about the balance of managing his own ego and leaving it in the cage in order to do his job properly.
"Dude, thank you for kind of putting it in your own words but, you know, I kind of try to bob and weave and slip and do all that...more than any other stuff that you're talking about.
But when it comes down to that, you're not wrong. I've got to go on there and pretty much fluff this guy up for the entire fight and I don't get to anything that's real because this is the thing that people don't really know about fighting.
You've got the real self, you got me the one you're talking to now which the ego doesn't need to exist here, it really doesn't.
I don't need it, I'm not competing, I'm not in a life and death scenario but when you put me into a fight scenario, I become nothing but ego because that's what's going to help me survive this scenario right now.
Like I have to be my ego to kill you or you will kill me. That being said, how do I find that balance in that seat and as a competitor, while they're calling me out, while I know they want to fight me. It's just part of the job, you get to work with it. It's quite a lesson for me every single time and I learn a lot from it and it's a gift to be able to be here so that's how I look at it.
Please provide transcription credit with a link to this article if you use any of these quotes.
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