Dominick Cruz is a man with plenty of options right now at 135 pounds, but that doesn't mean he isn't looking elsewhere for a challenge.

Speaking on Fox Sports this past weekend during the "UFC on Fox" broadcast, the UFC bantamweight champion was asked whether he'd fancy a fight with  UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor. Unsurprisingly, Cruz said that he'd welcome the challenge of the Irishman and that he would more than happily move up multiple weight classes to do it.

"McGregor is picking his own fights, so it's not up to me," Cruz said. "That's not up to the UFC--it's up to McGregor. I know just as much as McGregor about this sport and it seems the only way you can beat McGregor is with your mind. I know I can do that. I can also technically beat him.

"I know at 145 pounds I'm extremely hard to deal with. I can beat McGregor--absolutely. I'd love to fight him at 145 pounds or 155 pounds if he wins the title. I don't care. I'm the champion and my style is built for moving up in weight class because I don't take damage."


Cruz expanded on his comments about understanding the game more than the Irishman to TMZ and explained how his colleagues should also deal with him.

"I don't have it on a factual basis that everybody hates the guy; I think they are just upset at how much money he made and how quickly he made it on his own," Cruz said. "The UFC kind of favors him in situations, but that doesn't make me hate him, that just makes me try to understand the situation and make that situation better for myself. You got to play the cards the way they are given and I wasn't given the same cards as him, so I have to use what I've been given to grow with that.

"You shouldn't model yourself after him, you should be yourself and just understand that you can't choose who goes viral or who becomes a superstar--that's out of our control," he continued. "That's a mixture of the promotor, the company or the business or the UFC pushing you while you push your own brand at the same time.

"You have to have that viral personality and [McGregor] happens to have that. He's got the accent; he's got a certain personality that he portrays himself as on camera and that's fine--that's how it's working for him. It doesn't mean everyone needs to do that."

While reiterating that he could see how McGregor was playing the game, Cruz also sent out a warning that he knew exactly how to play it himself.

"You can't hate him for it," Cruz said. "I choose to not hate on those people because they are doing something different. It's a choice, and to me, being bitter at somebody because they make more money than me will only hold me back from what I want to do personally. I'm just going to give him a pat on the back and just say, 'Keep going.' I see how you understand the game McGregor, but just understand that I understand it just as good and better."