Dominick Cruz Credit score: Gabriel Gonzalez/Cageside Press
Dominick Cruz just lately revealed he plans on taking one final struggle earlier than crusing off into the sundown. He has had a storied profession despite his numerous harm issues. His two huge layoffs from 2011 to 2014 and from 2016 to 2020 robbed us of so many nice potential matchups, the most important one undoubtedly being Renan Barão.
With Cruz not reserving a single struggle since his final loss to Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera again in August of 2022, it wasn’t that stunning to see him depart the UFC rankings two weeks in the past. However with that departure from the rankings got here doubt about his future. Whereas it’s thrilling to study he plans on preventing another time, it’s vital that the UFC ebook him appropriately.
The UFC has developed this behavior through the years of desirous to feed their legends to younger fighters in hopes that the up-and-comer will profit from having the legend’s identify on their file. Nonetheless, this normally solely works when the legend remains to be a related contender of their division. A current instance would Joaquin Buckley knocking out Stephen Thompson. Did Buckley beat the very best model of ‘Wonderboy’? Completely not, however Thompson was nonetheless within the top10 at welterweight, so it made sense for him to nonetheless be preventing precise contenders. Evaluate that Frankie Edgar who was barely hanging on to a rankings spot when he introduced his retirement struggle and had politely requested for a struggle with Cruz. He as a substitute acquired booked in opposition to Chris Gutierrez and acquired kneed into oblivion in two minutes. And for what?
Certain, Gutierrez was on a 6-0-1 run and the KO was good, however was the UFC so excessive on him that it was price giving the followers this unhappy second? Gutierrez is 2-2 since then, has fell out of the rankings and at 33 years previous, it’s unlikely he’ll ever really profit from that spotlight. A pleasant KO that deserved to be celebrated was as a substitute forgotten by the fanbase due to what it represented, an final result that goes utterly in opposition to the thought-process behind the reserving.
Was Ihor Potieria such an vital rising prospect that the UFC needed to have him struggle Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua in his retirement struggle in entrance of a Brazilian crowd? There are too many of those examples… What’s encouraging is that if the UFC choose to not ebook Cruz’s final struggle in the identical manner, they aren’t missing in choices.
OPTION 1: Henry Cejudo
Henry Cejudo, UFC 298 ceremonial weigh-in Credit score: Gabriel Gonzalez/Cageside Press
The 2 met on the primary card held through the COVID-19 pandemic over 4 years go. Cejudo was the bantamweight champion on the time and Cruz was coming off certainly one of his lengthy layoffs. Triple C acquired the third-round KO, however Cruz disputed the stoppage. He infamously blamed referee Keith Peterson, saying he smelled like “alcohol and cigarettes”.
Cruz has been adamant that the stoppage was early and he has been partaking in a back-and-forth with Cejudo’s agent Ali Abdelaziz on X a few potential rematch ever since he introduced he could be coming again for another struggle.
Normally, reserving Cruz in opposition to somebody who has already knocked him out would go in opposition to all the things I’ve stated thus far, however Cejudo finds himself in an analogous predicament. The Olympian gold medalist additionally took a protracted layoff and has misplaced each his fights since coming again. Granted his losses include a cut up choice loss to then champion Aljamain Sterling, and one other choice loss to Merab Dvalishvili again at UFC 298. I don’t assume that is the best choice on the market, but it surely actually isn’t a nasty one.
OPTION 2: Cody Garbrandt
Cody Garbrandt, UFC 296 ceremonial weigh-in Credit score: Gabriel Gonzalez/Cageside Press
Garbrandt was the one to carry the Cruz curse at Group Alpha Male when he lastly dethroned him at UFC 207. Although Garbrandt’s profession didn’t materialize in the way in which most individuals anticipated following that evening, it’s nonetheless one of the crucial revered performances in current reminiscence. For one evening, Garbrandt seemed like 1,000,000 bucks.
As soon as once more, reserving this once more over eight years later seems like a nasty concept on paper, however ‘No Love’ isn’t the world beater he was on that evening anymore. He in all probability nonetheless holds a pace benefit, however his skill to take a shot has severely diminished since then, making the struggle much more truthful. And regardless of that efficiency having been virtually mythologized, the precise struggle was extra aggressive than the spotlight packages we normally see on social media.
OPTION 3: Jose Aldo
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – DECEMBER 04: (R-L) Jose Aldo of Brazil punches Rob Font of their bantamweight struggle through the UFC Battle Night time occasion at UFC APEX on December 04, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Picture by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
That is my private favorite choice on the market. It’s the primary one listed that isn’t a rematch and it’s a matchup that followers have been wanting for effectively over a decade. Fan curiosity in that matchup might be traced again to once they have been each champions in WEC. At this level, we wouldn’t be getting the absolute best model of that matchup, however the marvel in how their utterly totally different preventing kinds would conflict remains to be current.
In some methods, that is the lighter weight class model of Georges St-Pierre vs Anderson Silva. Simply let the 2 all-time greats go at it.
OPTION 4: Raul Rosas Jr.
Raul Rosas Jr, Noche UFC ceremonial weigh-in Credit score: Gabriel Gonzalez/Cageside Press
If the UFC is cussed in desirous to feed Cruz to a younger prospect, then that is the kind of matchup I may very well be on board with. Rosas has a sufficiently big identify to be a professional B-side to somebody like Cruz. He additionally hasn’t proven the power to badly damage his opponents on a constant foundation the identical manner different bantamweight prospects like Payton Talbott have. So so far as matchups in opposition to notable up-and-comers go, this could be the most secure one for Cruz.
With Cruz additionally being of Mexican descent, that is precisely the kind of struggle that ought to be booked at a Noche UFC occasion.
