Dominick Cruz is known for being one of the sharpest guys at the desk when it comes to breaking down fights, and his take on Vitor Belfort in Saturday’s UFC 187 co-headliner is pretty spot on.

Belfort (24-10 MMA, 13-6 UFC) is a 3-1 underdog heading into the pay-per-view fight, which takes place at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena. But Cruz believes there are a few ways the former light-heavyweight champion can even the scales when he meets up with middleweight champion Weidman (12-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) on Saturday.

“There’s a certain way you fight wrestlers,” Cruz, who is an analyst for FOX Sports’ coverage of UFC 187, told MMAjunkie. “You can’t give them so much space and respect. You just can’t. You know that they threaten takedowns all the time. A lot of times what you see happen is guys won’t pressure as much as they need to because they’re worried about the takedown. They also stop kicking, and it almost tailors to the wrestler completely.”

Weidman, of course, got into the sport after wrestling, where he was twice an NCAA Division I All-American at Hofstra University. Before fighting, he was also a standout grappler and took on jiu-jitsu players at the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships with just one year of experience under his belt.

Belfort, meanwhile, is a jiu-jitsu black belt. But according to Cruz, who expects to return later this year from another knee injury, the Brazilian is better served by judiciously using his striking to keep Weidman from turning the fight into a takedown clinic.

“What you’ve got to do is take away the respect, and you’ve got to make him respect you marching forward,” Cruz said. “So Vitor needs to come forward; he needs to go first. He can’t wait and be second against Weidman. He needs to be first, and he needs to line his body up so the right uppercut and the right straight can go right down the middle along with his right knee, so that any time Weidman decides to change levels, he’s looking at a knee or a right uppercut or a short right straight.

“All that does is it gives you an angle so when Weidman does shoot, Vitor can stuff it to a single leg, and a single leg is much easier to defend than a double-leg. So the key is for Vitor not to let Weidman double-leg. Keep him to a single leg; that will help with the fence, and he needs to keep Weidman on his heels with pressure. Box to the body and then go up to the head with your strong punches. If he’s starting to swing at Weidman right off the bat, Weidman’s going to shoot right under his punches and take him down immediately.

“So I like Vitor coming out, pressuring, throwing combinations to the body and going up to the head, and what that does is set up his down block even if Weidman decides to shoot because his arms are already down at his body. So now he can defend instead of swinging at the head, where Weidman can shoot. That will help his takedown defense.”

Even with that game plan, however, Cruz thinks Belfort should prepare himself for a trip to the mat. It’s what he does there that could play a another pivotal role in the fight.

“The biggest thing is we know Vitor is going to get taken down,” he said. “It’s going to happen at least once, so the question is, for me, did Vitor train his jiu-jitsu to believe in it and say, ‘I will submit Chris Weidman from my back,’ or is he intelligent enough to know that Weidman is well versed from the top position? And Vitor needs to use a submission or try to get back up to his feet, and he needs to keep an open guard and use that fence to get up to his feet.

“If he decides to close his guard, stay in half-guard and close his legs, he’s going to anchor himself down with Weidman on top of him, and that’s not a good night. Use your jiu-jitsu to get up. Don’t commit to the submission and end up being ridden out for five rounds.”

On Saturday, the world will find out whether Belfort is on the same page as the ex-bantamweight champ.

For more on UFC 187, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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