Dominick Cruz has experienced every avenue of the fight game. The Team Alliance leader has dominantly reigned atop a division just as he's been on the sidelines with the very career he forged hanging in the balance.

Cruz knows what it's like to watch someone else carrying the mantle he's earned and not being able to do anything about. And that's why the former bantamweight king sympathizes with Jon Jones.

The embattled pound-for-pound great was present this past weekend at UFC 210 to watch the main event clash between Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson in Buffalo. Jones was cageside as Cormier forced Johnson to tap to a rear-naked choke in the second round, then became the focal point of the champion's barbs in the post-fight interview.

In an interview with Robin Black, Cruz broke down exactly why he was able to relate to Jones' situation.


"For me, the coolest thing about [UFC 210] was seeing Jon Jones out in the stands and DC winning the title and seeing the look on Jon's face," Cruz said. "I'm a champion, a former champion. I've lost it; I've earned it. I've done all that, and I know where Jon is to an extent, because he's out, and he knows he should be and can be competing. To see the look on his face when DC won the title and talking to him and he can't do anything about it? I know how that feels. It's such a restricting feeling. You literally feel like you're being choked in your seat, and your whole body is being sucked into the seat."