Dominick Cruz.
Dominick "The Dominator" Cruz is the former, two-time UFC bantamweight champion. He is also the former and final WEC bantamweight champion.
WEC to UFC: One Belt Is The Other[]
He most recently defended his WEC bantamweight title for the last time at the last WEC event, defeating Scott Jorgensen via unanimous decision and also earning the first-ever UFC bantamweight title.
After the victory, he called out the only man to hold a victory over him for his first UFC title defense: former WEC featherweight champion Urijah Faber. He even told Faber that they should hold the fight in The California Kid's hometown of Sacramento. The bout was considered to not be on the line after Faber was announced to be facing Eddie Wineland in a number-one contender's bout, giving Cruz time to heal his long-injured hand.
Faber won the bout and Cruz was next set to face him in the long-awaited rematch that was also Cruz's UFC debut. Cruz avenged his only loss, defeating Faber via a close unanimous decision. In the process, he also defended his UFC bantamweight title for the first time in the Octagon's history.
Cruz next defended his title against top contender Demetrious Johnson in the first title fight on live and free television. The fight was announced to be headling the sixth UFC on Versus event. Cruz defeated Johnson via unanimous decision, dominating the quick grappler despite rebreaking his hand in the first round.
Cruz was next set to face Urijah Faber once more in a rubber match, defending his UFC bantamweight title for the third time in the process. Their fight would only come, however, after coaching against each other on the fifteenth season of The Ultimate Fighter.
Comeback from the Injury[]
Months before the bout was set to take place, however, Cruz tore his ACL and was forced to pull out of the bout and possibly out of the Ultimate Fighter show only halfway through.
After a long hard recovery of well over a year and dealing with the looming threat of having his title stripped from him, Cruz signed in late October 2013 to unify his UFC bantamweight title with the interim title held by Renan Barao in February 2014.
Cruz suffered another knee injury and the UFC stripped him of his title, crowning Barao as the second UFC bantamweight champion.
After The Title[]
After an extensive recovery Cruz signed to fight Takeya Mizugaki. It would be Cruz's first fight in almost three years. Cruz proved the doubters wrong and then some, knocking Mizugaki out and destroying him in just over a minute.
Cruz then received a shot at his old UFC bantamweight title against new champion TJ Dillashaw. Unfortunately Cruz suffered yet another knee injury and was sidelined from the title hunt yet again.
After recovering yet again Cruz received another shot at Dillashaw.
Winning Back The Title[]
Cruz defeated Dillashaw via a close and competitive split decision to win back his belt, revealing reluctantly that he had entered the fight with an injured left foot but that he refused to use it as an excuse.
Cruz next defended his newly regained belt for the first time in a rubber match against the aged Urijah Faber. He defeated Faber via a dominant unanimous decision, backing up all his pre-fight talk.
Cruz next declined a Dillashaw rematch in favor of a second title defense against undefeated up-and-comer Cody Garbrandt, the third current or former Team Alpha Male member Cruz would be facing in a row. Garbrandt defeated Cruz via a clearcut unanimous decision to steal the belt, taunting Cruz throughout the fight as well and dancing, etc.
After a long layoff Cruz next looked to come back versus the new bantamweight champion (and flyweight champion, double champ) Henry Cejudo who defeated Cruz via controversial TKO late in the second round before retiring from the sport vacating the title. Cruz vehemently protested the stoppage, quite literally for a year afterward so far.
About a year after the Cejudo fight, speaking of that, Cruz returned again versus young contender Casey Kenney in Cruz's first three-round fight since the Mizugaki destruction. The two went to war with young Kenney impressing but Cruz impressing even more, coming off all the injuries and layoff as he always did: with mastery of skill and will and intelligence. He defeated Kenney via a split decision but it was quite clearcut. He then called out Monster energy drink's Hans Molenkamp for a fight for charity.
Fights[]
- Urijah Faber vs. Dominick Cruz 1 - The fight was for the WEC featherweight title with Urijah Faber defending. The fight was Cruz's first -- and thus far his only -- loss.
- Dominick Cruz vs. Ian McCall
- Dominick Cruz vs. Joseph Benavidez 1 - The fight was Joseph Benavidez's first loss.
- Dominick Cruz vs. Joseph Benavidez 2 - The fight was for the WEC bantamweight title with Cruz defending.
- Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber 2 - The fight was for the UFC bantamweight title with Cruz defending, for the first time. The fight was -- by an odd series of circumstances -- Cruz's UFC debut.
- Dominick Cruz vs. Demetrious Johnson - The fight was for the UFC bantamweight championship, with Cruz defending.
- Dominick Cruz vs. Takeya Mizugaki - The fight was Cruz's first in almost three years, his first fight in the UFC without the UFC bantamweight title that had been stripped from him after several injuries.
- Dominick Cruz vs. TJ Dillashaw - The fight was for the UFC bantamweight title with TJ Dillashaw defending.
- Dominick Cruz vs. Urijah Faber 3 - The fight was for the UFC bantamweight championship with Dominick Cruz defending.
- Henry Cejudo vs. Dominick Cruz - The fight was for the UFC bantamweight title with Henry Cejudo defending (his first title defense). The fight was Dominick Cruz's first since he had lost the title in 2016. After the fight, Cejudo retired from MMA.
- Dominick Cruz vs. Casey Kenney - The fight was the all-too-familiar return from injury for former champion Dominick Cruz.
- Dominick Cruz vs. Pedro Munhoz
- Marlon Vera vs. Dominick Cruz - The fight was a probable UFC bantamweight title eliminator.