Injuries continue to wreak havoc in the career of two-time UFC champion Dominick Cruz. The latest may send UFC President and his team scrambling to find a replacement for UFC Seattle.
On Wednesday, Cageside Press reported that Cruz suffered an injury during training that will force him out of what he planned to be his retirement fight against Rob Font on February 22 at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle.
Cruz and TJ Dillashaw are the only two-time champions in the division’s history, and the former is an unquestionable future Hall of Famer.
He had hoped to go out on his own terms after an accomplished career—one that has been dramatically impacted by injuries. However, the farewell fight of Cruz’s career may have to wait—if it happens at all.
Cruz missed almost three years from 2011 to 2014 with a torn ACL and groin injury. The injuries occurred while he was champion and forced him to vacate the title. He returned with a TKO victory over Takeya Mizugaki in September 2014 to set up his title shot against Dillashaw in January 2016.
Cruz won by split decision to become a two-time champion. He successfully defended his title against his rival Urijah Faber in June 2016 before being overwhelmed by Cody Garbrandt to lose the championship in December 2016.
After taking a year off, serious injury struck Cruz’s career again when a broken arm forced him out of a fight with Jimmie Rivera in December 2017. Cruz wanted to make his return to the Octagon against John Lineker in January 2019, but a shoulder injury pushed him out of competition, and he didn’t fight again until May 2020.
Cruz lost his return to the Octagon via knockout at the hands of Henry Cejudo. Since the loss to Cejudo, Cruz has fought just three times. He won a unanimous decision over Casey Kenney and Pedro Munhoz in May and December 2021, respectively, before being knocked out with a head kick by Marlon Vera in August 2022.
As it stands, if Cruz does return for a farewell fight, it may be close to three years since he last fought in the Octagon. Cruz turns 40 on March 9. As of the early morning of February 6, the UFC hadn’t found a replacement for Cruz on the card, which currently has the following lineup of fights:
- Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong – Men’s Bantamweight
- Brendan Allen vs. Anthony Hernandez – Middleweight
- Jean Silva vs. Melsik Baghdasaryan – Featherweight
- Curtis Blaydes vs. Rizvan Kuniev – Heavyweight
- Edson Barboza vs. Steve Garcia – Featherweight
- Ion Cuțelaba vs. Ibo Aslan – Light Heavyweight
- Adam Fugitt vs. Billy Ray Goff – Welterweight
- Ketlen Vieira vs. Macy Chiasson – Women’s Bantamweight
- Ricky Simón vs. Javid Basharat – Men’s Bantamweight
- Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Nick Klein – Middleweight
- Modestas Bukauskas vs. Raffael Cerqueira – Light Heavyweight
- Andre Fili vs. Melquizael Costa – Featherweight
Because the card already has 12 fights, the UFC might not replace the Cruz-Font fight. However, there have been rumors that Spokane Valley resident Michael Chiesa could be added to the card at some point.
Perhaps Cruz’s withdrawal makes that easier, as the card would still have just 13 fights. Stay tuned for the final word on this card in the coming weeks.
