Former UFC champion Dominick Cruz (24-4) knows that his career is coming to an end. The former bantamweight champion will go down in history as one of the greatest “What ifs” in the history of the sport. The crazy thing is, he’s still had a Hall of Fame career despite being in that what if category.
In March, Cruz will turn 40-years-old and he told TMZ Sports that he’s wanting to fight one final time before hanging it up. He referred to the potential matchup as his last dance just to go out there one final time, have fun, and show what he can do.
It’s been a crazy 14 years for Dominick Cruz. In December 2010, Cruz defended his WEC bantamweight title for the second and final time. After the UFC opened up the bantamweight and featherweight divisions, Cruz was brought in as the promotion’s first bantamweight champion. His first title defense was in July 2011 against Urijah Faber.
Cruz won that fight and then turned around a few months later and defeated Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson in his second UFC title defense in October 2011. After that, the injuries started crippling Cruz. Cruz has always been a fighter who relied on his elusiveness and his footwork. The problem is that knee injuries completely derailed his career.
Former UFC Champion’s Last Dance
After that title defense against Johnson, Cruz was out for just about three years with injuries. He had to vacate the title while he was gone. When he returned, he showed how special he was by blitzing Takeya Mizugaki in just 61 seconds. However, after that, he wouldn’t fight against for a year and a half due to injuries.
When he returned, it was like no time had passed as he defeated TJ Dillashaw to become the bantamweight champion. Five months later he defeated Urijah Faber in their trilogy fight to retain the title and then he lost the title to Cody Garbrandt in December 2016.
After the Garbrandt loss at UFC 207, injuries once again took their toll as Cruz wouldn’t fight again until May 2020 when he fought and lost to Henry Cejudo for the bantamweight title. Cruz did come back to fight twice in 2021 after the Cejudo loss and picked up two good wins.
From there he faced Chito Vera in August 2022. Had he won that fight, he might’ve challenged for the title again. After looking solid throughout the fight, Cruz was knocked out by a head kick in the fourth round. We haven’t seen Cruz since despite rumors of a return here and there.
Now, we know that he’s planning on one final fight. So, who should the UFC pair him with? To me, there’s only two options. One option is a rematch with Henry Cejudo. Cejudo has expressed interest in this matchup and I wouldn’t mind seeing this one at all. However, there’s one matchup that I’m really pulling for.
I’d love to see the matchup between him and Jose Aldo. When the UFC brought in the WEC guys, Aldo and Cruz were named the featherweight and bantamweight champions. For years, this was a dream match that never happened. Even after Aldo dropped to bantamweight, the fight never materialized.
After Aldo’s close loss to Mario Bautista, I think it’s the perfect time to finally make it happen after all these years.