Daron Cruickshank
By John Quiroz
Daron Cruickshank is an up and coming UFC fighter with the nickname “Detroit Superstar”. Originally from Westland, Mi., Daron now travels the world as a top lightweight mma fighter.
He is truly a fighter by birth since both of his parents are martial arts experts. They each had their own schools and are both 4th degree black belts in Tae Kwan Do. His mom was a professional kickboxer and boxer and his dad cross trained in different martial arts, dabbled in savate and the JKD system. Daron considers himself a true martial arts hybrid.
Fast forward to 2014 and Daron has already had quite a career appearing on two reality shows (Bully Beatdown and The Ultimate Fighter) and fighting for many mma organizations.
He was 8-1 as an amateur and held the XCC & TXC titles in Michigan and as a professional holds the Ringside World Title. After a stint in the King Of The Cage promotion, Daron moved up to the UFC. He is currently 14-4 and is a top lightweight contender.
The following is the Detroit Live interview with Daron (Detroit Superstar) Cruikshank:
There I was on a cold and snowy day in the D heading to Michigan Top Team in Dearborn to interview UFC rising star Daron (Detroit Superstar) Cruickshank! That’s a good first interview for the mag, a guy who makes a living beating the crap out of people! I have to admit, I was a little nervous ( which is why I started the interview like I did). After arriving early and seeing nobody there, I called Daron, wondering if I was at the right place. Daron assured me that I was there and he was going to be a little late. He had travelled across town to pick up some fight shorts for one of his students so that he could continue training for a fight. It’s that kind of bond that first struck me about Daron and his team. After a few minutes, and a long walk up an old fashioned staircase, I was face to face with the Detroit Superstar himself. And he was cool right from the start. It was too loud in the gym to do the interview so we went into the bathroom to speak. As a few fighters began laughing at the sight of us entering the bathroom together, Daron yelled out “No homo” and the following interview began.
DL: Do you still get nervous at all before fights?
DC: “Ya know, I ask myself the same question every time that I get into the cage. I get in there, the nerves start kicking in. Especially because of the crowd and that it’s on such a big level”. I say to myself, “I cannot believe that you are doing this again. I’m about to fight this guy”. Then I basically say to myself, “Fuck it, let’s do this!). Then the cage closes, the bell rings and the fight starts. Then it’s on. No more nerves.”
DL: Do you ever study film of your opponents?
DC: “I do in the beginning when I’m going to accept the fight. I always check out who I’m fighting. Then when I accept it, I stop watching film. I let my coaches and my corners do that. I mean its one thing to watch somebody do something but it’s a whole different thing when they are in front of you and they’re doing it.”
DL: Do you have any favorite mma fighters that you watched before you got into the UFC?
DC: “When I first started training or even thinking about it, Matt Hughes was on his reign of terror as the Welterweight Champion at 170 lbs in the UFC. He was just wrecking dudes! He defended his belt like 7 times or something and just destroyed people.
DL: How is the nose injury? (Daron suffered a smashed nose in the last 10 seconds of his fight with John Makdessi. He subsequently has had nose surgery. His surgeon said that it was the worst smashed nose that he’d ever seen!)
DC: “The nose is doing well. I’m still pretty. And some people say that it actually even makes me look better than before!”
DL: What is your opinion on the proposed uniforms that the UFC has mentioned possibly implementing?
DC: “ Ya know, I’ve always had problems getting sponsors because I’m an up and coming fighter and the sponsors who do pay you, don’t pay much at all. So yeah it’s kind of hard, but as long as they let me wear spandex shorts instead of board shorts, I’m ok with it.
DL: So how is your relationship with the UFC and most notably, Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta ?DC: “ Ya know man, I feel like I have a great relationship with them. I’ve only said maybe a few words to Dana like “Hey how’s it goin?” Ya know, He’s the boss so it’s kind of……(pauses) I get more nervous when he’s around than I am when I’m about to fight! Ya know what I’m sayin ?DL: Yep, no doubt! (laughs)
DL: What is your involvement in the Michigan amateur mma scene ?
DC: “Michigan mma is the wild west! Especially the amateur mma because there is no sanctioning body. So I’m kind of just trying to protect my guys that are in there because there are a lot of promoters out there and it’s all about money to most of them. So I opened up a gym. It’s called Michigan Top Team and it’s in Dearborn, Michigan and we are just trying to get our guys to the next level pro and amateur. As far as amateur mma goes, I do a lot of reffing and I get a lot of people asking me how to do this or that, so I take fighters under my wing and show them the ropes and try to get them to the next level.
DL: Are there any Michigan fighters, amateur or pro who you’d like to tell our readers about? DC: “ Actually yes, Cody Stamann, he hasn’t fought at the big show yet but he’s up and coming. He’s 5-0 as a professional. He has his first pro title fight this Sat. for the vacant TXC Featherweight Title. I’ll be there supporting him and getting him ready for his fight. (ed. Note. Cody Stamann defeated Jeremy Czarnecki at TXC Legends 3 on Feb 22 to capture the Featherweight crown)
DL: Ok, last question and then we’ll let you go back to punching people out.
DC: Ok shoot.
DL: We think that our readers would like to get your picks on some upcoming UFC Championship fights. How about Weidman vs Belfort for the Middleweight crown? (ed note: Belfort has since pulled out and Weidman will be fighting Lyoto Machida instead. But we think that Daron’s answer would probably be the same anyway.)
DC: “Weidman’s the champ, right? I’m going to have to go with the champ because he has the belt and he took it from and defended it against the best fighter in mma ever!DL: How about Johny Hendricks versus Robbie Lawler for the Welterweight title?DC: “Oooh, I’ll go with Robbie Lawler just because I’m a bigger fan of his.”
DL: The last one is in your division, Lightweight. Jose Aldo versus Anthony Pettis.
DC: “That should be interesting to watch two champions go at it. Two different styles of fighters. Hmm, well I fell like leg kicks don’t knock people out so I’m going to go with Pettis”DL: Thanks for the interview and good luck in the UFC.
DC: Thanks
Daron Cruickshank is fighting Eric Koch at UFC Fight Night 40 on May 10th in Cincinatti. You can watch it on Fox Sports one and UFC Fight Pass online.· Michigan Top Team is located at 13939 Michigan Ave., Dearborn, MI 48126.· Follow Daron on Twitter …..@Cruickshank 155 and Facebook ……..www.facebook.com/cruickshank155·
