Dominick Cruz Prepares For Final Curtain
The fat lady is beginning to clear her throat as far as the storied career of Dominick Cruz (24-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) is concerned. The former WEC and UFC bantamweight champion will bring down the final curtain on one of the most exceptional careers in the history of the sport when he faces Rob Font in the co-main event at UFC Fight Night: Seattle on February 22nd.
Cruz’s career began way back in January of 2005 with a split decision win over Eddie Castro on Rage In The Cage 67 in Phoenix, Arizona and he went on to become one of the greatest 135-lb fighters of all time. Speaking during an appearance this week on The Ariel Helwani Show, “The Dominator” pointed out just how different the world of mixed martial arts was when he first set foot inside the cage.
A History Of Violence For Dominick Cruz
“I love to compete, Ariel”, replied Dominick Cruz when Helwani asked the 39-year-old why he’s coming back for one more fight next month. “I started this sport when it was illegal in every state and everybody…you know, we were legitimately called ‘human cockfighters’…like basically roosters that fight each other with knives…we were considered (to be like) that, and I remember thinking back then, “Really?”.
“I just enjoy fighting. It keeps me out of trouble, you know?,” Dominick Cruz continued. “It’s legal so it keeps me from doing stupid things on the street, it keeps me from going out too late, it keeps me from putting bad things in my body (drugs, alcohol, bad food) because if I put those things in my body I then can’t compete the next day, I can’t defend myself against dangerous people that are trying to hurt me in the gym.”
“Fighting kind of keeps me really…it just gives me a good route, it keeps me clear. And it’s a transformation process man. When you put yourself on a public forum to possibly be the greatest performance that’s ever been made, or an embarrassing moment…that right there, the dichotomy between that is such a transformational process and transformation is a public event, so that’s what I think this thing is all about.”
“It’s a journey of transformation and growing and martial arts always does that for me, it helps me really like…it’s like pressing a fast forward button on ‘lessons in life’. You get them really fast and really hard, and there’s nothing kind about it”, Dominick Cruz concluded.
One Last Dance For Dominick Cruz In Seattle
After defeating Brian Bowles to win the WEC bantamweight title back in 2010 (and subsequently defending the belt twice), Dominick Cruz became the inaugural UFC 135-lb champion when the WEC was bought out by the Fertitta brothers and merged with the UFC.
After winning his opening two bouts inside the Octagon, Cruz suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament. After complications with his surgery, he decided to vacate his title rather than hold up the division, and it would be more than three years before he returned to the Octagon.
He did eventually work his way back to the top of the division, memorably overcoming T.J Dillashaw in January of 2016 to reclaim the belt he never lost, but Dominick Cruz has been dogged by a variety of injury issues through the remainder of his career.
“Yeah, that’s what’s gonna happen” he responded when asked by Helwani if the Rob Font fight would definitely be his last, “because the body just isn’t the same any more. When you’ve got to start training differently because the body isn’t doing what you need it to then you’re subsidizing, right? You’re taking away something here and there. I don’t want that to be the case. I could just keep going and going and end up in a space where I can’t lift my arm. I don’t know if anybody’s seen T.J. Dillashaw recently but I saw (a clip) where he can’t even lift his arm this high (raises hand to shoulder level).
Dominick Cruz confirms this will be his last fight.#HelwaniShow pic.twitter.com/I8WL3qVUkj
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) January 13, 2025
“I’ve had multiple shoulder surgeries. Those are the things I’ve been building during this time that I’ve been off…rebuilding the body for this fight, to come back and make sure that I can make it through a camp in one piece,” Dominick Cruz mentioned, “and that’s always the tough part because I train extremely hard.”
“I think that was the issue with Cain Velasquez, I think personally that was the issue with Khabib (Nurmagomedov). A lot of the best athletes in the world, I think the reason we get hurt is because we train harder than anybody. I think those two people I named were two of the hardest training athletes in the history of the sport, period, ever, and I think that’s why they had a lot of injuries and I think that’s why I’ve had a lot of injuries”.
