Dominick Cruz’s last surge will happen at UFC 269.
Who would have thought that Dominick Cruz of all fighters would be in a preliminary fight at UFC 269? Well, that’s exactly where we’re at, as Cruz takes on Pedro Munhoz on the preliminary card. You could argue that it’s not exactly a name on par with Cruz, but that seems to be Munhoz’s gig at the moment. Two of Munhoz’s last three fights, both losses, were against aging legends Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar. Both fights were supposed to see what the legends had left.
Edgar hasn’t won since, while Aldo hasn’t lost since. For Cruz, this will be a test to see if he can still go for gold. A question that that should’ve never been needed to be asked. Cruz was 22-2 at one point, coming off a loss against Cody Garbrandt that saw Cruz give one of the best, most honest, post-fight pressers ever. Many thought it’d be only months before he got his rematch and reclaimed his title. He was an all-time great and just into his 30s. Then he’d be sidelined for nearly four years due to various injuries.
When he came back, he took on then-champ Henry Cejudo in a fight that didn’t go Cruz’s way and had one of the worst post-fight pressers; accusing the referee of being drunk afterward. Almost ruining his image of the consummate professional in one fell swoop. Needless to say, that loss hurt Cruz’s standing in more than one way.
A loss against Pedro Munhoz at UFC 269 will tank Dominick Cruz’s title hopes
Still a talented fighter, and still relatively within his prime window at 36 (but having 17 years’ worth of fights on his body), Cruz should still be a title contender. His win over unranked Casey Kenney was nice, but to go from a title shot to an unranked divisional fighter isn’t a great look.
And while Munhoz is currently ranked 8th among UFC bantamweights, he really shouldn’t be considering the fact he’s 1-3 in his last four, and his lone win was against currently unranked Jimmie Rivera.
So if Cruz loses this fight, the thought of him getting a shot at Aljamin Sterling or a top fight against Petr Yan seems like a longshot. A win over Munhoz, however, ould give Dana White all the reason he needs to pair Cruz vs Aldo in a non-title super fight of epic proportions. Regardless, this fight for Cruz will determine what the rest of his career looks like.