Career Dominick Cruz

1 career

1.1 mixed martial arts career
1.2 world extreme cagefighting
1.3 ultimate fighting championship

career

he worked customer service representative @ lowe s home improvement store 1707 , studying firefighter @ community college before becoming full-time fighter.

in addition fighting, cruz mma analyst fox sports.

early mixed martial arts career

cruz began professional mixed martial arts (mma) career in 2005, competing in rage in cage , total combat organizations. amassed record of 9-0 before joining world extreme cagefighting (wec).

world extreme cagefighting

his first fight in wec @ featherweight in title fight against urijah faber in lost guillotine choke in first round. fight become beginning of longstanding cantankerous rivalry between two.

he make debut wec s 135 lb bantamweight division on june 7, 2008, @ wec 34 defeating charlie valencia unanimous decision.

cruz went on take decision victories against ian mccall on january 25, 2009, @ wec 38 , april 5, 2009, ivan lopez @ wec 40.

cruz defeated joseph benavidez on august 9, 2009, @ wec 42 unanimous decision. both participants awarded fight of night honors.

cruz defeated brian bowles via tko (doctor stoppage) on march 6, 2010, @ wec 47. bowles unable continue after second round after breaking hand. cruz became new wec bantamweight champion.

cruz made first title defense against joseph benavidez on august 18, 2010, @ wec 50. cruz broke left hand in fight. bout rematch of contest @ wec 42, in cruz handed benavidez first career loss, via decision. cruz defeated benavidez again via split decision.

cruz faced scott jorgensen on december 16, 2010, @ wec 53 both wec bantamweight championship , newly created ufc bantamweight championship. bout final bantamweight championship fight under wec banner , crown inaugural ufc bantamweight champion, making ufc title fight take place outside of ufc. cruz defeated jorgensen via unanimous decision (50–45, 50–45, 50–45), retain wec bantamweight championship , become first ufc bantamweight champion.

ultimate fighting championship

on october 28, 2010, world extreme cagefighting merged ultimate fighting championship (ufc). part of merger, wec fighters transferred ufc.

a rematch urijah faber took place on july 2, 2011, @ ufc 132 being first defense of new ufc bantamweight title. in closely contested fight saw faber drop cruz multiple times strikes , cruz landing multiple leg\body kicks, knees , takedowns, cruz defeated faber via unanimous decision retain championship , avenge loss on record @ time.

cruz defeated demetrious johnson via unanimous decision on october 1, 2011, @ ufc on versus 6, second ufc title defense. cruz broke right hand in first round. cruz expected face urijah faber third time ufc bantamweight championship after faber defeated brian bowles @ ufc 139 in bantamweight title eliminator bout.

in december 2011, cruz selected coach ultimate fighter: live against opposing coach urijah faber. rubber match between cruz , faber expected take place on july 7, 2012, @ ufc 148. however, on may 7, 2012, cruz forced pull out of bout citing torn acl.

on december 3, 2012, revealed cruz underwent acl surgery after body rejected 1 cadaver, expected recovery time of 6 9 months.

cruz scheduled make return on february 1, 2014, @ ufc 169 in unification bout interim ufc bantamweight champion renan barão. however, on january 6 episode of sportscenter, ufc president dana white announced dominick cruz had torn groin , vacated ufc bantamweight championship; white promoted barão undisputed ufc bantamweight champion, , announced barão s first unified title defense against urijah faber @ ufc 169.

after 3 years away sport due injuries, cruz returned octagon on september 27, 2014, @ ufc 178 faced takeya mizugaki. cruz won fight ko in first round punches after getting takedown. win earned cruz first performance of night bonus award. @ post-fight press conference, dana white confirmed cruz s next fight bantamweight championship against t.j. dillashaw.

subsequently, on december 22, 2014, cruz indicated had torn acl in other knee, sidelined him through 2015.

cruz faced t.j. dillashaw on january 17, 2016, @ ufc fight night 81. regained title split-decision victory. both participants awarded fight of night honors.

cruz defended title against urijah faber on june 4, 2016, @ ufc 199. won fight unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46), knocking faber down twice. cruz concluded trilogy faber 2-1 winning record.

cruz faced cody garbrandt on december 30, 2016, @ ufc 207. garbrandt won fight unanimous decision become new ufc bantamweight champion. first loss cruz in 10 years. in post-fight interview joe rogan, cruz revealed plagued plantar fascia tendinitis throughout training camp made difficult him walk @ times.

cruz expected face jimmie rivera on december 30, 2017 @ ufc 219. on november 8, reported cruz suffered broken arm , forced pull card.