Dominick Cruz Announces Retirement From MMA

Dominick Cruz Announces Retirement From MMA

Dominick Cruz, the inaugural UFC bantamweight champion, has announced his MMA retirement. The 39-year-old was forced to pull out of his farewell fight after dislocating his shoulder. The legend opted to hang up his gloves after suffering the injury.

Cruz announced the decision on his social media accounts while also penning a letter to fans of the sport.

“To the fans worldwide.” Cruz wrote on X. I have poured every ounce of myself into this sport for the last 25 years. I was really hopeful for one final fight but unfortunately, two shoulder dislocations in 8 months calls an end to this guy’s career. I gave everything I had and put it into preparation and training for this fight —focusing on my cardio and my body for the past year. But sometimes, the body just doesn’t cooperate. The pain isn’t as bad now that my shoulder is back in place, but the second dislocation was far more complicated than the first. This sport has been everything to me—it’s helped to shape who I am. Thank you to the UFC for building this platform and paving the way for fighters like myself and so many others. The UFC broke barriers to set the stage not just for us as fighters. Also for every mma sports organization that followed them across the bridge created throughout politics in order to allow our sport to take place LEGALLY in the United States and now the world. I am incredibly grateful to everyone who booked tickets, hotels, and flights to support me. Thank you all for being there through every moment, every victory, and every challenge. You’ve made this journey unforgettable. Thank you for the love and support. I will carry it with me always. With love, Dominick.“

Cruz leaves MMA as a lock for the Hall of Fame. He was the best bantamweight in the world before the UFC adopted the weight class. Cruz won the WEC bantamweight title in 2010 and defended the title twice. The UFC recognized Cruz as the bantamweight champion and gave him the UFC title when the promotion added the division. He proceeded to defend that belt twice as well.

The biggest issue during Cruz’s career was his health. In his prime, he was consistently sidelined. This prevented him from having a traditional title reign. Still, in 2016 he managed to come back from injuries and defeat T.J. Dillashaw to regain the title. That was followed up with a title defense against Urijah Faber.

The bantamweight division does not have a clear greatest of all time, but Cruz has as much of an argument as anyone. Cruz and Sterling are tied for the most UFC bantamweight title defenses. The difference is that Stertling’s defense came consecutively while Cruz’s did not. The counterpoint to that would be Cruz has more victories in title fights and he had his run in the WEC.

It also must be noted that Cruz played a massive role in garnering interest in the lower weight classes. This began with his trash-talking skills that helped him create rivalries and extended to his unique fighting style.

It is fitting that Cruz called it a career because after suffering an injury. As unfortunate as it is, you cannot tell the story of his career without mentioning the health issues that stripped years off his prime. Despite those injuries, he cemented himself as a pioneer of MMA and an all-time great fighter.

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