Dominick Cruz News

Drake Riggs - March 27, 2018

The UFC’s 135-pound bantamweight division isn’t lacking any sort of talent. Especially when it comes at the top, as you could argue that the division has the highest level of combined talent out of any other division in MMA. Among those names is the often overlooked, Raphael Assuncao who is 10-1 in the weight class. That includes a 1-1 record against the current champion, TJ Dillashaw.

Drake Riggs - March 20, 2018

“Well let’s put it this way… We saw Conor McGregor cross over to boxing within six to eight months and face what has said to be the best boxer on Earth, yes or no? Yes. I would say that if Floyd Mayweather needs six to eight months to prepare for his first MMA fight and he wants to fight one of the best in the world, I could make that with one arm and fight him. And that’s just the way it is.

Justin Golightly - February 8, 2018

Demetrious Johnson versus TJ Dillashaw. The UFC flyweight champion fighting the UFC bantamweight champion in an ultra high level MMA double title fight. It’s a match-up that everyone has been clamoring for, but still some people aren’t in favor of it. Although, it’s easy to see why Dominick Cruz isn’t keen on the idea. If you count the WEC bantamweight title which the UFC absorbed, Cruz was the bantamweight king from 2010 until he was stripped due to injuries in 2014. A title he nearly immediately got back upon his return from Dillashaw himself. The very same title he wants back. “I think [the bantamweight championship] should be my next fight, but they play weird games where they want to give TJ Dillashaw an easier fight because he doesn’t want to fight somebody hard right after he won the title. He wants an easy fight. So, he wants to fight somebody that he knows he can keep the belt a little longer before he knows he gets a really hard fight, whereas I went TJ Dillashaw, Urijah Faber, Cody Garbrandt and then I lose the belt. Let’s go TJ. I beat you. Don’t you want to get that back? Stop going down and looking for little baby boys at 125. Silly Dilly, that’s what I call him.”

Drake Riggs - February 7, 2018

“I think that should be my next fight [TJ Dillashaw]. But…they(the UFC) play weird games where, they want to give TJ Dillashaw a little bit of an easier fight because he doesn’t want to fight somebody hard right after he won the title, he wants the easy fight. He wants to fight someone that he knows he can keep the belt a little longer before he gets a really hard fight. Whereas I go TJ Dillashaw, Urijah Faber, Cody Garbrandt and then I lose the belt.

Drake Riggs - December 13, 2017

It’s pretty easy to argue that injuries have been Dominick Cruz’ biggest rival throughout his storied career(Urijah Faber may have something to say about that though…). Cruz is one of the greatest fighters to ever step foot in the cage and the fact that he still can is nothing short of miraculous. He’s come back from broken hands, torn ACLs, a torn groin and is now recovering from a broken arm that forced him out of his planned bout with Jimmie Rivera for UFC 219. Fortunately, it sounds like this has been an easier road to recovery for Cruz than some of his previous injuries!

Justin Golightly - November 16, 2017

Jimmie Rivera has done everything to earn himself the biggest fights at bantamweight and UFC clearly agreed. He was matched up against former champion Dominick Cruz, but Cruz had to end up pulling out due to a broken arm. Just like that, Rivera loses out on the biggest fight in his career. He’s since called out TJ Dillashaw to replace Cruz to stay on the UFC 219 card, but John Lineker has a different plan. “I would fight with Jimmie Rivera. I’m at the UFC’s disposal to fight him. I’m ready. I want to fight again, and it’ll definitely be a different fight from my last performance against Marlon Vera. I’ll be more in the rhythm and John Lineker will fight as he always has: aggressively. All the time, I am ready. […] I think I’m not far from a title fight and a rematch with [TJ Dillashaw]. I think that my victory over Marlon Vera has put me back into the mix, and I believe that another one or two wins and I’m in talks again to fight the champion.”

Tom Taylor - November 14, 2017

Former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz has a long and unfortunate history of being forced out of fights with injuries. Earlier this month, the trend continued, as he was forced out of a planned UFC 219 scrap with Jimmie Rivera with yet another injury. Speaking to MMAJunkie this week, Rivera explained that, despite Cruz’s apparent fragility, he wasn’t particularly worried about this fight getting scrapped.

Chris Taylor - November 8, 2017

Former UFC bantamweight kingpin Dominick Cruz has been forced out of his planned UFC 219 fight with Jimmie Rivera due to a broken arm. MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani recently broke the news on Twitter.

Justin Golightly - September 30, 2017

Jimmie Rivera is basically one fight away from gold, or at least that’s a good way to look at it. With a tidal wave of announcements last week, it was made official that Rivera will take on former bantamweight king Dominick Cruz at UFC 219. Fight fans sure are happy with the match-up, as well as Cruz’s return, but no one seems more pumped than Jimmie Rivera himself. “F-ck yeah. I am super shocked. I think the biggest thing was they must’ve gave [Dominick Cruz] something good, or they told him that’s the only way. I don’t know. I heard that he wanted to take the fight, which I was super surprised. I’m just happy; I’m happy he took it so I can go in there and whoop some ass. I’m super stoked. It’s the fight that makes the most sense right now. I got a five-fight winning streak, I’ve beat the best. It’s time to fight the next person that’s the best so I can get a title shot.”

Justin Golightly - September 27, 2017

When it rains, it totally pours. Four giant fights are slated for UFC 218, including Alistair Overeem and Francis Ngannou being official. Now, we have our first three fights announced for the UFC’s year-end  card on December 3oth. Former UFC champions, Carla Esparza and Dominick Cruz will return to action in high-profile fights for their divisions. HOLD UP!

Tom Taylor - September 24, 2017

On November 4, in the co-main event of the stacked UFC 217, UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt will attempt to defend his title against an estranged teammate in former bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw. This is, by all accounts, one of the biggest and best title fights in UFC bantamweight history, which is why it would truly suck if we lost it to injury. The good news, however, is that if either Garbrandt or Dillashaw is injured, former UFC bantamweight champ Dominick Cruz is ready and willing to step in. “I’m always training, I’ve been training this whole time,” Cruz said on a recent episode of UFC Unfiltered (h/t MMAMania). “For me, the title shot is important. I’ve earned that shot, I held the belt longer than anyone in this division and I help build the division.”

Tom Taylor - August 1, 2017

What does Conor McGregor have to do to defeat Floyd Mayweather? @UFCONFOX@DominickCruz breaks down next month’s anticipated mega-fight. pic.twitter.com/jok3YKOG9q — Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) July 30, 2017

bjpenndotcom - May 3, 2017

Former UFC bantamweight kingpin Dominick Cruz took some time off from fighting following his UFC 207 loss to Cody Garbrandt, which saw him lose the UFC bantamweight title. Following the loss, Cruz opted to let the UFC book a Cody Garbrandt vs. TJ Dillashaw fight while he took some time off to rest. Now however, with Garbrandt and Dillashaw’s coaching stint on TUF done, and the pair set to fight at UFC 213, Cruz is looking to secure a fight with the winner.

Tom Taylor - May 1, 2017

This July 8, when the UFC takes over Las Vegas with UFC 213, bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt will attempt to defend his title against a former champion – and former teammate – in TJ Dillashaw. On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, another former champion in Dominick Cruz gave his take on this upcoming battle. Given that Cruz has fought both Dillashaw and Garbrandt – beating the first and losing to the latter – his thoughts on their fight are especially interesting.

Tom Taylor - April 22, 2017

Back in December, in the co-main event of UFC 207, Dominick Cruz’s legendary bantamweight title run was cut short by an incredibly sharp Cody Garbrandt. Garbrandt was able to drop Cruz on multiple occasions, ultimately earning a sound, unanimous decision win for his efforts. Though there was some brief talk of an immediate Garbrandt vs. Cruz rematch, those talks quickly quieted and we haven’t heard much from Cruz since then. According to his head coach at Alliance MMA, Eric Del Fierro, however, Cruz has been busy in the gym, growing and evolving as a fighter.

Chris Taylor - April 16, 2017

Dominick Cruz explains why Demetrious Johnson would have problems at bantamweight UFC flyweight kingpin Demetrious Johnson tied Anderson Silva for the most title defenses in UFC history (10) last night in Kansas City by scoring a dominant submission victory over Wilson Reis in the evenings main event.

bjpenndotcom - March 23, 2017

At UFC 207, UFC bantamweight kingpin Dominick Cruz stepped into the Octagon with Cody Garbrandt for a highly anticipated grudge match. The pair had traded barbs in numerous interviews throughout the buildup of the fight, and were nearly involved in an altercation backstage at another event, which was fortunately broken up by UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. When the pair stepped into the Octagon, many expected Cruz’ experience to be the difference maker, however Garbrandt showed excellent composure as he managed to out-strike the champ, while avoiding Cruz’ strikes. In addition, Garbrandt even managed to drop the champ on numerous occasions, leaving fight fans stunned at his masterful performance.

Russell Ess - February 28, 2017

https://youtu.be/Np5J-0yhDRc We still have yet to hear if Phil Brooks, better known as CM Punk, will get another shot at fighting in the UFC again.