Latest news with #DominickCruz
USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
UFC bantamweight title history: Dominick Cruz, Aljamain Sterling, Merab Dvalishvili, more
UFC bantamweight title history: Dominick Cruz, Aljamain Sterling, Merab Dvalishvili, more (This story was updated to add new information.) The bantamweight title is on the line in the UFC 316 main event when champion Merab Dvalishvili (19-4 MMA, 12-2 UFC) takes on ex-champ Sean O'Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) in a rematch. Take a look at a chronological history of the UFC's 135-pound title, which migrated over from the WEC in 2010 when the promotions merged. Dominick Cruz Date: Dec. 16, 2010 Dec. 16, 2010 Event: WEC 53 WEC 53 Opponent: Scott Jorgensen Scott Jorgensen Total reign: 1,117 days 1,117 days Title defenses: Urijah Faber, Demetrious Johnson Renan Barao (interim) Date: July 21, 2012 July 21, 2012 Event: UFC 149 UFC 149 Opponent: Urijah Faber Urijah Faber Total reign: 534 days as interim champ; 138 days after being promoted to champion (Jan. 6, 2014) 534 days as interim champ; 138 days after being promoted to champion (Jan. 6, 2014) Title defenses: Michael McDonald, Eddie Wineland, Urijah Faber T.J. Dillashaw Date: May 24, 2014 May 24, 2014 Event: UFC 173 UFC 173 Opponent: Renan Barao Renan Barao Total reign: 603 days 603 days Title defenses: Joe Soto, Renan Barao Dominick Cruz Date: Jan. 17, 2016 Jan. 17, 2016 Event: UFC Fight Night 81 UFC Fight Night 81 Opponent: T.J. Dillashaw T.J. Dillashaw Total reign: 348 days 348 days Title defenses: Urijah Faber Cody Garbrandt Date: Dec. 30, 2016 Dec. 30, 2016 Event: UFC 207 UFC 207 Opponent: Dominick Cruz Dominick Cruz Total reign: 309 days 309 days Title defenses: None T.J. Dillashaw Date: Nov. 4, 2017 Nov. 4, 2017 Event: UFC 217 UFC 217 Opponent: Cody Garbrandt Cody Garbrandt Total reign: 501 days 501 days Title defenses: Cody Garbrandt Henry Cejudo Date: June 8, 2019 June 8, 2019 Event: UFC 238 UFC 238 Opponent: Marlon Moraes Marlon Moraes Total reign: 352 days 352 days Title defenses: Dominick Cruz Petr Yan Date: July 12, 2020 July 12, 2020 Event: UFC 251 UFC 251 Opponent: Jose Aldo Jose Aldo Total reign: 237 days 237 days Title defenses: None Aljamain Sterling Date: March 6, 2021 March 6, 2021 Event: UFC 259 UFC 259 Opponent: Petr Yan Petr Yan Total reign: 896 days 896 days Title defenses: Petr Yan, T.J. Dillashaw, Henry Cejudo Petr Yan (interim) Date: Oct. 30, 2021 Oct. 30, 2021 Event: UFC 267 UFC 267 Opponent: Cory Sandhagen Cory Sandhagen Title defenses: None Sean O'Malley Date: Aug. 19, 2023 Aug. 19, 2023 Event: UFC 292 UFC 292 Opponent: Aljamain Sterling Aljamain Sterling Total reign: 393 days 393 days Title defenses: Marlon Vera Merab Dvalishvili
Forbes
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
UFC 315 Fight Card: Date, Time, Location, How To Watch Or Stream
UFC 315 Main Event Fighters - Belal Muhammad vs. Jack Della Maddalena UFC The next pay-per-view card on the 2025 UFC schedule is nearly upon us. That event, UFC 315, takes place on Saturday, May 10, and is headlined by a welterweight title fight between champion Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena. In the evening's co-main event, Valentina Shevchenko begins her second run as UFC women's flyweight champion with a matchup against Manon Fiorot. We look at the UFC 315 card date, time, location, and how to watch or stream the PPV event. Saturday, May 10, 2025 Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada Main Card: ESPN+ PPV Preliminary Card: ESPN Early Prelims: ESPN+ UFC 315 Fight Card: Fight Card Time Early Prelims: 6:30 p.m. ET Prelims: 8:00 p.m. ET Main Card: 10:00 p.m. ET Forbes Joe Rogan Won't Work UFC 315: Dominick Cruz Steps In By Trent Reinsmith MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JULY 27: Belal Muhammad prepares to face Leon Edwards of Jamaica in the UFC ... More welterweight championship bout during the UFC 304 event at Co-op Live on July 27, 2024 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) Zuffa LLC via Getty Images Belal Muhammad (24-3-0-1) joined the UFC with a perfect 9-0 record. Not long after Muhammad claimed the Titan FC welterweight crown, the UFC came knocking. Muhammad signed with the promotion in 2016. At the time, he was 27. Bloody Elbow described him as, "In the cage he is largely a volume puncher, tending to work at the edges of range keeping a constant jab going and working behind it. He does well to work a kicking game in with his boxing, and puts some real power behind those kicks, but the focus is definitely on being a combination puncher. To that end, Muhammad does a good job feinting and changing rhythm, to keep his opponent from guessing his timing too easily. "Muhammad uses his footwork well at range, circling away, maintaining distance and not walking himself into the pocket. As such he's got pretty solid takedown defense. His focus is on accuracy and timing, and he rarely puts himself in a bad position to be taken down. Just because of his style, Muhammad hasn't been much of a finisher to date in his MMA career, but he's got the kind of style that's great for breaking down opponents over time." Muhammad had a rough go of things in the UFC. He went 1-2 with his losses, a decision to Alan Jouban, and a knockout setback at the hands of Vicente Luque, bookending a TKO victory over Augusto Montaño. The loss to Jouban, Muhammad's UFC debut, earned the combatants "Fight of the Night" honors. After the loss to Luque, Muhammad won four straight decisions. That winning streak ended in 2019 when Geoff Neal topped Muhammad via decision. That loss is the most recent blemish on Muhammad's record. Forbes UFC 315 Fight Card: Early Prelims Odds, Picks And Predictions By Trent Reinsmith The 36-year-old is on a 10-0-0-1 run since then. Following the loss to Neal, Muhammad went 4-0. That run put him in the main event of UFC Vegas 21 opposite Leon Edwards. At the time, Edwards was the No. 3 competitor in the official UFC welterweight rankings, while Muhammad checked in at No. 13. Edwards was a -270 betting favorite, while Muhammad was the +220 betting underdog. The contest did not last long as Edwards poked Muhammad in the eye 18 seconds into the second round. The eye poke left Muhammad unable to continue, and the fight was ruled a no contest. Over the next two years, Muhammad rang up five more victories against progressively tougher competition. He defeated Demian Maia, Stephen Thompson, Vicente Luque, Sean Brady, and Gilbert Burns during that run. The triumph over Burns earned Muhammad the No. 2 ranking in the division and a date with Edwards at UFC 304. Edwards was the reigning UFC welterweight champion at the time and was looking to make a third defense of that belt against Muhammad. Edwards was on a 12-fight unbeaten run when he stepped into the Octagon as the -265 favorite over the +215 Muhammad. After the fight, which Muhammad won via decision, I wrote, "Belal Muhammad had the perfect game plan for Leon Edwards at UFC 304. Not only did he and his team have that strategy mapped out, but Muhammad seamlessly executed that plan of attack. Muhammad used pressure and high-output striking to remove time and space from Edwards. That approach forced Edwards to retreat, and once Muhammad had his opponent's back to the fence, he added his wrestling and ground control to the mix. Edwards landed a decent percentage of his strikes at 66 percent, but the pressure from Muhammad limited his attempts to just 71 significant strikes. Edwards threw over 100 strikes in his two most recent bouts. Muhammad was especially effective in his wrestling, racking up nine takedowns on 13 attempts and picking up 12:02 of control time. "With the win, Muhammad won the UFC welterweight title and extended his unbeaten streak to 11 fights. His last loss came in January 2019, when Geoff Neal defeated him via decision." Muhammad was booked to face Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310, but a bone infection prevented Muhammad from competing on that card. With Rakhmonov unable to compete at UFC 314, the UFC opted to book Muhammad against Della Maddalena in Montreal. MIAMI, FLORIDA - MARCH 09: Jack Della Maddalena of Australia prepares to face Gilbert Burns of ... More Brazil in a welterweight fight during the UFC 299 event at Kaseya Center on March 09, 2024 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) Zuffa LLC via Getty Images Jack Della Maddalena (17-2) signed with the UFC in September 2021 following a decision win over Ange Loosa on a Dana White's Contender Series card. Before the bout, UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby said of Della Maddalena, "I thinkDella Maddalena is probably the best prospect out of New Zealand or Australia at welterweight. He's a big guy. He throws a ton of offense, and he's really good in the clinch. The win over Loosa marked the first time Della Maddalena had won a fight via decision. He went into the bout on a run of nine stoppages (eight knockouts, one submission) after opening his professional career at 0-2 with two stoppage setbacks. Della Maddalena was the reigning and defending Eternal MMA welterweight titleholder heading into the DWCS card. The Australian scrapper opened his official UFC run with four first-round stoppage wins and three "Performance of the Night" bonuses. He finished Pete Rodriguez, Ramazan Emeev, and Danny Roberts by knockout before stopping Randy Brown via submission. In his first fight to go the distance under the UFC banner, Della Maddalena was in a "Fight of the Night" bonus-winning affair with Bassil Hafez, which Della Maddalena won via split decision. He followed that with another split decision, topping Kevin Holland in September 2023. The 28-year-old got to finishing fights in his most recent outing, knocking out former UFC welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns in the third round of their UFC 299 meeting. I wrote of Della Maddalena's 'Performance of the Night' bonus-winning stoppage, "Jack Della Maddalena was focused and poised throughout his matchup with the higher-ranked Gilbert Burns. The 27-year-old's striking was on point throughout the fight. He used combinations and mixed up his targets well. Even when things were not going his way, thanks to Burns' grappling skills, Della Maddalena never panicked. That composure led to him landing a knee in the third round after a scramble to get off the mat and setting up the ground strikes that finished the fight at the 3:43 mark of Round 3. "Della Maddalena showed a gap in his overall skills in this fight, struggling with his defensive grappling, but at just 27, the Australian has time to shore up that weakness in the future. "Look for Della Maddalena to jump up in the official UFC welterweight rankings following UFC 299, as he entered the fight at No. 11, and Burns was No. 4. He is now 7-0 in the UFC and 17-2 as a pro. "Also, it must be noted, that Burns was up 20-18 on two scorecards heading into the third round. Della Maddalena is the No. 5 fighter in the official UFC welterweight rankings heading into UFC 315. UFC 315 Fight Card Co-Main Event: Valentina Shevchenko Vs. Manon Fiorot UFC 315 Co-Main Event - Valentina Shevchenko vs. Manon Fiorot UFC Valentina Shevchenko (24-4-1) has been with the UFC since December 2015, when the promotion signed her as a short-notice replacement for Germaine de Randamie against Sarah Kaufman on a UFC on FOX card. Shevchenko won that bantamweight fight by split decision. Shevchenko stayed at 135 for her next four fights, going 2-2. Her wins came against former UFC champ Holly Holm and future titleholder Julianna Pena. Her losses, both by decision, came against Amanda Nunes, including a September 2017 split decision setback against then-champ Nunes. Following her loss to Nunes, Shevchenko dropped to 125 pounds and went on one of the most impressive runs in the history of the UFC women's divisions. She put an absolute beating on Priscila Cachoeira in her UFC 125-pound debut. In her next fight, Shevchenko faced ex-women's strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk for the vacant flyweight title. Shevchenko won that scrap via decision. She then defended her title seven times before falling to Grasso at UFC 285. The two then fought to a split draw in a September 2023 scrap. The trilogy fight between the two saw Shevchenko walk away from UFC 306 with the title back in her hands. Forbes UFC 315 Fight Card: Prelims Odds, Picks And Predictions By Trent Reinsmith Shevchenko holds the following records in the UFC women's flyweight division: Most wins: 10 Most KO/TKO wins: 4 Longest winning streak: 9 Most title fight wins: 9 Most fight time: 3:42:47 Most control time: 1:25:33 Most top position time: 1:14:08 Fewest strikes absorbed per minute: 1.75 Total strikes landed: 1,790 Takedowns landed: 47 ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY - MARCH 30: Manon Fiorot of France reacts after her unanimous-decision ... More victory against Erin Blanchfield in a flyweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at Boardwalk Hall Arena on March 30, 2024 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) Zuffa LLC via Getty Images Manon Fiorot (12-1) enters her second UFC main event with a perfect 7-0 record with the promotion. The 35-year-old is the No. 2 ranked fighter in the official UFC women's 125-pound rankings. Fiorot, a former UAE Warrior's flyweight champ, joined the UFC in 2021. In her first fight with the promotion, Fiorot defeated Victoria Leonardo via knockout. Since then, she has steadily climbed the rankings. In her past two bouts, Fiorot has defeated former UFC champion Rose Namajunas and rising Erin Blanchfield, who was on a nine-fight winning streak heading into their UFC Fight Night main event in March 2024. Fiorot has not competed since she topped Blanchfield by decision in that five-round scrap. We will more on the UFC 315 fight card, including updated betting odds, as fight night approaches.
USA Today
06-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
UFC 315 broadcast team set: Dominick Cruz on commentary, Anthony Smith returns as analyst
UFC 315 broadcast team set: Dominick Cruz on commentary, Anthony Smith returns as analyst The fifth numbered UFC event of 2025 is just days away, with UFC 315 set for Saturday at Bell Centre in Montreal. As always, some marquee on-air talent will be there in Canada to help guide viewers through the experience. Details of who will be working as commentators and analysts for the show have been acquired by MMA Junkie through a person with knowledge of the plans – and you can see the scheduled broadcast team below. UFC 315 broadcast UFC 315's main card airs on pay-per-view/streams via ESPN+ pay-per-view for residents in the U.S. beginning at 10 p.m. ET. The preliminary-card lineup is slated to begin at 8 p.m. ET and airs on ESPN and streams on Disney+ following early prelims, which begin at 6:30 p.m. ET and stream on ESPN+. UFC 315 roving reporter UFC commentator Brendan Fitzgerald will serve as correspondent to conduct pre and post-fight interviews backstage with some of the athletes on the UFC 315 card, as well as report additional real-time updates for the event. UFC 315 weigh-in show Dan Hellie will host the official UFC 315 weigh-in show on Friday at 9 a.m. ET/6 a.m. PT. He'll be joined by UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier, Laura Sanko and Din Thomas. UFC 315 octagon announcer The most famous octagon announcer in history will do his thing once again at UFC 315 as legendary Bruce Buffer will introduce the fighters before battle. UFC 315 desk analysts UFC Hall of Famer Rashad Evans, retired light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith and Din Thomas will serve as desk analysts on the UFC 315 post-fight show and throughout the card, when necessary. Brett Okamoto will serve as desk host with Jon Anik joining the desk post-fight. UFC 315 cageside commentators Jon Anik will serve as the leading man on the mic from cageside at UFC 315. He will command play-by-play alongside color commentators, former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier and former UFC/WEC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz. Din Thomas will also contribute to the broadcast as a coach-analyst.
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Dominick Cruz 'shocked' by message from ex-rival after emotional UFC retirement
One final fight wasn't in the cards for Dominick Cruz. The former two-time UFC bantamweight champion was set to compete in UFC Seattle's co-main event against Rob Font this Saturday night. Unfortunately, disaster struck in training when a dislocated shoulder led to the final UFC fight cancelation of Cruz's career. Cruz, 39, announced his official MMA retirement days after the withdrawal. Still in the early stages of accepting his future outside the Octagon, he spoke about his decision Monday on "The Ariel Helwani Show." "I think the hardest part about the whole thing is that other people are bummed out," Cruz said. "It's a choice — it's literally a choice to be happy. And the normal thing [for someone in my position] would be, 'Oh, I should look and be sad because that's how it should look for other people.' That was the first thought: 'I shouldn't enjoy my life because I don't deserve to because I pulled out of this fight.' But at the end of the day, I've got a lot of practice with injuries — unfortunately, but also fortunately — to where that's always the conversation that comes up first for me. "I set my goal to get through this fight, and I'll be honest, I was on borrowed time when I booked this fight, but because of the state of my body leading into that, I was very confident that I could make it, so I booked the fight. Unfortunately, [my] arm gave out — and it had given out before, but this time it was different. It was kind of a basic position, so it [was] completely out. The problem was, when it sits out like that, the pain is just absolutely excruciating, and it wouldn't go back in. So when they went to move it back in — shout out to the [UFC Performance Institute] trainers, they're very good — the first time I did it, they were able to slide it right back in within three minutes. "This time, they lifted me up by a towel on my shoulder and the muscles locked it into place, and so I had to go to the hospital, and that made it a completely different experience. It was out of place for about an hour and 15 minutes to an hour and 30 minutes, just sitting out of socket. And you kind of find Jesus in a time like that, to be honest. It's just excruciating pain." Cruz revealed his injury occurred during grappling training, specifically drills focused on getting up from bottom position. While posturing on his elbow to explode upward, the force sent his shoulder "out the back," resulting in overwhelming pain and a lengthy recovery process. Surgery on Cruz's shoulder may be optional, depending on his MRI result. Ultimately, his arm is still functional without surgery, but the procedure would be more to significantly lower the probability of future dislocations. As Cruz mentioned, when he initially decided the Font matchup would be his last, he'd already entered the realm of looking out for his health rather than pursuing the UFC's bantamweight title. "At the end of the day, when your arm starts turning blue ... and you can see that they're making sure my fingers are still working before they slide it back into place, it's like, OK, is fighting worth as much as my arm? Because there's a possibility if I keep this route, the arm just stops working," Cruz said. "You're not able to lift it. I can do all this because it's been about 13 days removed, and it's back in socket. But because I'm not fighting, that might save my shoulder for the rest of my life. And that's the big picture. It's, 'Do you want your shoulder, or is the money you're getting paid worth your arm?' "For me, I'm not getting paid big enough dollars that it's worth my arm. Maybe if I was making a few million, maybe that might change it. I might've gone in there and figured out how to make it work at 50% on one arm and 100% on my other. But with the amount of money I'm getting paid, it wasn't worth the livelihood of my brain and my body." Time on the sideline or away from activity has been the story of Cruz's illustrious career. He's had multi-year layoffs, his most famous of which saw him return in 2016 after a single fight in four years to recapture the UFC title. The all-time great has always been transparent with his emotions but also stubbornly persistent in trying to compete as long as he has with a professional run than first began in 2005. While it's still settling for Cruz that he'll never have a fight camp again, he still fully intends to be an active martial artist, because that's what he'll always be at his core. "If you're going to be honest with yourself, it's like mourning the loss of somebody when you lose the sport, when you do it as much as I do," Cruz acknowledged. "But I'm still so involved in the sport. "I pulled out of this fight so that I could still use my shoulder to train, to train athletes, to work, to still move around and do what I want to do and still stay dangerous. It's important for me, just as a man, to be dangerous all the time. So I'll still be very dangerous and that's the key for me. It's not about retirement and get fat and get lazy. My brain doesn't work that way. It's stay as dangerous as I can — that's the reason I started this sport and essentially paid to do it. "Not competing at the highest level — I gave everything I have to it. So at the end of the day, I can kind of surrender to it, let go, and then receive what comes next." Cruz's peers have been overwhelmingly effusive in their praise of the former UFC champion since his retirement. He's received plenty of kudos for what he accomplished in his 28-fight professional career (24-4), however accepting that praise from fans or fellow fighters has been a process in and of itself. Cruz admitted he rarely watches his own fights back because of how harsh of a self-critic he can be. He'd rather wait until later in life to venture down memory lane. So regarding his perception and legacy within MMA, he's doing his best to see it from others' vantage points. "The longer you go down the road and the more people you go through that [with], the more I realize it's not them that I'm looking at. I'm looking at myself through their eyes, and I'm judging myself," Cruz said. "It has nothing to do with other people. That's the hardest thing is, I feel like I don't deserve [this]. I feel like I let people down. I feel like I said I was going to do something, and I didn't get to follow through and do it. It's not a fact that that makes me not worth it, that I can't enjoy my life, that I can't do all these things. I made that up. And so the hard part is just noticing that those are thoughts that come up for me and that they're not real. "Most people just can't believe I did what I did up until this point. Most people, it's always like I'm thinking people are thinking bad about me. And really, it could easily go the other way — I'm just thinking bad about myself. So that's the constant hurdle. When you see other people looking at you, it's not them looking at you and giving their judgments at me. It's me giving judgments of myself, and I just assume that that's what they're thinking when I look in their eyes. That doesn't go away until I do my own healing, until I forgive myself." In total, Cruz won seven major championship fights in his MMA career, defending either the UFC or WEC bantamweight title on five of those occasions. He former multiple rivalries along the way, the most significant of which unfolded opposite the entire Team Alpha Male gym run by Urijah Faber. Despite Cruz's bad blood with his many rivals or past opponents, even names like Faber wished "The Dominator" well in life after his retirement announcement. Among the more surprising responses came from T.J. Dillashaw, who Cruz famously dethroned to start his second UFC title reign. Dillashaw's MMA career coincidentally ended similarly to Cruz's. Also a former two-time titleholder, Dillashaw suffered a shoulder injury ahead of his final title tilt against Aljamain Sterling in 2022. He fought through it, but the injury was severe enough that Dillashaw retired shortly after. "I've gotten a few notes from some big names," Cruz said. "One of the ones that stood out to me was T.J. Dillshaw actually reached out to me. I was shocked. He gave me a recommendation for a shoulder doctor and said he was looking forward to watching me compete [at UFC Seattle] and was sorry that I couldn't. "[Demetrious Johnson also reached out], obviously. Faber obviously. Danny Ricciardo from F1, he recently retired and he kind of shared some of his sentiments of what he was going through. Obviously, I can relate to that because he's in a very dangerous sport too. I've had Theo Von reach out to me, that means a lot. Just people who have been through a lot in their life and continue to keep moving forward, those are the ones that I can resonate with. Not that I can't resonate with everybody — I can accept and be grateful for all of it. But these are the names that stand out to me as people who really put themselves into the fire on a regular basis in their life. And when they reach out, it shows you that there's some sort of strand of connectivity that we're all on. Otherwise, that wouldn't happen. So that's refreshing.' One of the less kind reactions to Cruz's retirement came from recent rival Henry Cejudo, who expressed a belief that Cruz may not have been properly built to train consistently for an MMA career. Cejudo defeated Cruz in May 2020. Before he retired, that rematch always stuck out on Cruz's radar. 'It's his perspective, right? He's allowed to have whatever interpretation he wants, but where does he prove that?" Cruz asked. "Where does he like have some scientist that says, 'Oh, this is where he did it wrong.' I've been hearing I've been doing things wrong since the beginning of my career. "So for him to critique injuries after his [own] shoulder injuries and after retiring and then coming back, I think he's just looking at a microscope of himself. It's not really me that he's talking about. He's just explaining himself again. That's what Henry does. He's a projector.' Cruz's legacy in MMA is as unique as they come; in a way, his injuries and layoffs enhanced his accomplishments. A championship-level fighter coming back from three ACL tears and a quad tear to earn back the UFC title, as he did, will likely never replicated. But for Cruz, a fight result isn't what springs to mind when asked about the pinnacle example of his legacy. Instead? It's the aftermath of his famous Dillashaw victory that speaks to him. In a now-famous interview with Uncrowned's Helwani immediately following that 2016 win, Cruz expressed that the best moment of his life was when he realized: "I didn't need the belt to be happy." 'That's why it's pinned on the front [of my Instagram], because I was really in the middle of figuring something out on that night," Cruz reflected. "I was on antidepressants the entire camp before that fight because of just how sad I was. Three weeks before that fight, I got off the antidepressants so I could do what I needed to do. Thank God my coach was able to recognize the difference. Once I got through that fight and then had the title, and felt that it didn't feel any different before I had it, and if anything, it was like, 'This is it? After everything I just went through, this is all I get? After everything everybody said that it was impossible and it couldn't be done, there's no chance and all this stuff like this, I get this?' 'Everybody thinks the belt, the championship is going to fix everything. It doesn't. It gives you more money, and then you can live a more comfortable life if you're lucky. Your problems are not fixed. It's up to us, and being happy is a choice — and I realized it literally in that moment, when you asked me the question. 'Is this the happiest day of your life?' 'Actually, I don't feel any different than when I got it. In fact, I'm a little disappointed that this is all I get.' And so that really hit me hard, and that was a moment that I realized, you know, happiness is a choice. It's not a fact. You've got to work for it.' Nearly a decade later, Cruz continues to open up and surprise the world with his ideas and tribulations. He had noted in the past how he "got off the couch" to get ready for Dillashaw, but the period was dark because he could not do what he loved most. The aid of antidepressants was unknown until now. In the end, after nearly 20 years of learning and fighting — both inside and outside the Octagon — Cruz is at peace with the hand he was dealt. "Fighting brought me back into sobriety, into life, into realizing the joy of life," Cruz said. "Then after that [Dillashaw win], I kept the ball rolling. I've never touched antidepressants again in my life. I'll never need them again. I've learned a lot of different tools from that process as well. So yeah, again, nothing's perfect. Everything might look perfect on the outside for a lot of us, the strongest people in the world, but we're all going through hell like anybody else. It's just, can you get through it?'
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Dominick Cruz, ex-UFC champ, retires from MMA after latest injury: 'Sometimes the body just doesn't cooperate'
Dominick Cruz is calling it a career. The former UFC men's bantamweight champion announced his retirement from MMA competition in a social-media post on Thursday. According to Cruz, the same injuries that had forced him out of what was to be his final professional fight at a UFC Fight Night event in Seattle later this month had also pushed him to hang up the gloves for good. "I gave everything I had and put it into preparation and training for this fight — focusing on my cardio and my body for the past year," Cruz, 39, wrote in an Instagram post. "But sometimes, the body just doesn't cooperate." View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dominick Cruz (@dominickcruz) To the fans worldwide, I have poured every ounce of myself into this sport for the last 25 years. I was really hopeful for one final fight but unfortunately, two shoulder dislocations in 8 months calls an end to this guy's career. I gave everything I had and put it into preparation and training for this fight —focusing on my cardio and my body for the past year. But sometimes, the body just doesn't cooperate. The pain isn't as bad now that my shoulder is back in place, but the second dislocation was far more complicated than the first. This sport has been everything to me—it's helped to shape who I am. Thank you to the @ufc for building this platform and paving the way for fighters like myself and so many others. The UFC broke barriers to set the stage not just for us as fighters. Also for every mma sports organization that followed them across the bridge created throughout politics in order to allow our sport to take place LEGALLY in the United States and now the world. I am incredibly grateful to everyone who booked tickets, hotels, and flights to support me. Thank you all for being there through every moment, every victory, and every challenge. You've made this journey unforgettable. Thank you for the love and support. I will carry it with me always. With love, Dominick Cruz's retirement ends a 20-year career in MMA, most of which he spent in the UFC. The former 135-pound champ started his pro career on the regional circuit in Arizona in 2005, quickly working his way into the WEC organization, which was then owned by the UFC's parent company and reserved as a home for the lighter weight classes. Cruz, who finishes with an official career record of 24-4, suffered his first professional loss in a WEC featherweight title fight against longtime champ Urijah Faber. He would later beat Faber twice in UFC bantamweight title contests after the WEC was dissolved and its roster absorbed into the UFC. During his time as champ, Cruz was known for his unique striking style, employing rapid-fire footwork to dance around opponents while seamlessly blending his strengths as both a striker and a wrestler. Unfortunately, he also became known for his injury woes, eventually vacating the UFC bantamweight title after repeated knee and groin injuries kept him out of action for the better part of two years. Cruz made a triumphant return to the sport in 2014 after nearly three years away, defeating Takeya Mizugaki via first-round TKO before being once again sidelined by injury. Cruz would return to reclaim the UFC bantamweight title in a split-decision win over T.J. Dillashaw in 2016, defending it once before losing it to Cody Garbrandt in only his second career loss at the time later that year. The last decade of Cruz's career was marred by one injury after another. As a result he competed in only four fights between 2017-22. He was slated to take on Rob Font in what was billed as Cruz's retirement fight on Feb. 22, but repeated shoulder injuries forced him out of the bout. While injuries may have limited his ability to perform inside the cage, they did help force him into another line of work outside of it. Cruz has become a staple on UFC broadcasts as a sometimes prickly and often opinionated color commentator and is known to a generation of fight fans primarily for his work as one of the voices of UFC broadcasts. But for those who witnessed Cruz in his athletic prime, he'll always be known for his indefatigable attack and mercurial fighting style, which frustrated foes across multiple weight classes for the better part of a decade.
