Mixed martial arts legend Dominick Cruz makes his return to the UFC’s Octagon on Saturday night at UFC San Diego. “The Dominator” is the greatest fighter in bantamweight cage fighting history, and with him being in the twilight years of his career, his main event scrap on Aug. 13 is a moment MMA fans need to value while they can.
Over a career that has crossed three different decades, Cruz has built a legacy that firmly places him among the icons of the sport. While fighters like Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, Demetrious Johnson, and Conor McGregor will garner more of the all-time great conversation, there is no denying what he has meant in establishing the bantamweight division’s relevancy in MMA, and the UFC. To the point where it is now arguably the deepest weight class in the top MMA promotion in the world.
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However, there are reasons that his role in the 135-pound division and MMA lore is so important. Let’s take a look at what has made Cruz’s career one of a kind, just days before his return to the Octagon in the main event of UFC San Diego.
Cruz’s footwork was often been imitated, but never duplicated
For as long as MMA exists, when Cruz’s name is mentioned the mental image most fans will have is of his awkward yet spectacular footwork.
The one-time WEC champion’s ability to dart in and out of danger was some of the most magnificent moments in World Extreme Cagefighting history. Cruz would use his footwork to sometimes place himself in danger, but either use his amazing reflexes to move his head and body out of range or almost hit what seemed like a rewind but and reverse course immediately. It often left opponents bewildered as they badly missed strikes and had a “which way did he go” look on their faces.
It’s one thing to do that against tomato can opposition, but the San Diego native made elite fighters and former champions like TJ Dillashaw and Urijah Faber look downright silly at times in their fights because of his fancy feet. You know you have amazing footwork when heavyweights try to mimic the success of a man 100 pounds lighter than them.
Dominick Cruz consistently defied father time
The idea of ring rust has been a source of debate in fight sports for years. It’s the notion that if a fighter stayed away from competing in official bouts, and the training that comes with it, their skills would erode and they would underperform in their return bout. And for the most part, many fighters and fans subscribed to the idea.
Do you know who never believed in it? Dominick Cruz. The former UFC bantamweight champion has dealt with injuries for much of the second half of his career and it led to two massive pauses in his athletic prime. Following his win over fellow legend Demetrious Johnson in October 2011, Cruz was sidelined for nearly three years. However, when he made his Octagon return he obliterated a talented fighter in Takeya Mizugaki in a minute.
Then again, after beating Mizugaki he missed over a year and a half and returned to face pound-for-pound star TJ Dillashaw for the division title. Despite the odds and theories about ring rust, “The Dominator” somehow beat Dillashaw to regain his bantamweight belt.
If ring rust existed, it should have been all over Cruz. However, he proved that being away from official fights doesn’t mean a competitor can’t stay sharp, and in his case, even get better.
Dominick Cruz made the bantamweight division mean something
For as long as fight sports have existed, the heavier divisions have often been the most popular weight classes, and smaller fighters did not get the respect they deserved. MMA was no different and WEC was the promotion that helped to promote the divisions the UFC wouldn’t touch. Specifically featherweight, bantamweight, and flyweight.
In MMA history, what legends like Jose Aldo (featherweight) and Johnson (flyweight) were to their divisions, Cruz was that for 135-pounds. He was a dominant champion who took on and beat all-comers for years. And he did it with elite-level talent and a personality that garnered boatloads of supporters and detractors.
Cruz opened the door for the division to actually be a source for UFC main events and money-making opportunities. Paving the way for stars of today like Petr Yan, Aljamain Sterling, Cory Sandhagen, and Sean O’Malley.
Cruz has a legendary hit list
The resumes of MMA greats like Chuck Liddell, Dan Severn, Tito Ortiz, and Royce Gracie can be questioned because the industry was still in its early stages at that time, and did not have the athletic talent flowing through like the sports does now. That’s not the case for Cruz. He has victories over several former champions and one fighter that will go down as one of the top five all-time. Let’s take a look at some of the amazing competitors Cruz posted a W against.
- Uriah Faber (twice) – Former WEC champion, multi-time UFC title contender
- TJ Dillashaw – Former UFC bantamweight champion
- Demetrious Johnson – Longest reigning flyweight champion in UFC history
- Joseph Benavidez (twice) – Multi-time WEC and UFC title challenger
- Brian Bowles – Former WEC bantamweight champion