Dominick Cruz råkade återigen ut för en knäskada, efter det att han lyckats ta sig tillbaka in i oktagonen och besegrat Takeya Mizugaki via KO under UFC 178. Innan mötet mot Mizugaki hade Cruz inte kunnat fightas på tre år på grund av knäskador, och denna gång ser det ut som att den föredetta titelhållaren blir borta i ytterligare nio månader.
Detta hade Dominick att säga om det hela, via ”The MMA Hour”:
I’ve obviously done this more times than I’d like. I’ve become pretty used to the sequence of events that take place. Right now, I’m in a machine that kind of bends my leg and I get to move it 10 degrees each day. I’m on 80 degrees today, 90 degrees tomorrow then I go see the doctor on Thursday and then rehab starts. I’m right on track, surgery was very successful and I am absolutely optimistic… I am looking at probably nine months. A typical ACL surgery is six to nine months, minimum. I’m just going to say nine months, because that’s what the doctors say. That can be later or a little bit sooner. There is no way that it will be faster than six months.
Cruz hade även följande att säga om den kommande titelmatchen mellan bantamviktsmästaren T.J. Dillashaw och Renan Barao:
I got to go with Dillashaw again. I like Barao, but after watching his last fight, watching Dillashaw, his self-confidence and mind is in a different place. I think Barao having that loss definitely shook him. Getting the last win, it really put some wind underneath his sails. It gave him a lot of confidence and let him know that he is as good as he was in his mind. But, it really comes down to Dillashaw, who went out there and beat him.
The beating he took from Dillashaw like that, isn’t easy to get your mind past. He got knocked out and beat down for four rounds before that. Plain and simple. That’s not easy to accept. I think this is a big hurdle for Renan. But if Renan goes in there and beats a guy like Dillashaw after what he went through, he is going to be one of the hardest guys in the world to beat after a fight like this if he can beat Dillashaw. His confidence will be through the roof. If he stays around for awhile, then maybe he can face me next.
I hope so (get next title shot). I am here looking positive. People are saying, ’how is he going to do it?’ And I’m saying, ’Why can’t I?’ I cannot wait to get back. In the meantime, I’m going to make the best of my life, I am going to enjoy commentating, and I promise you that I will keep getting better, I am going to be in the gym. Don’t think I’m not going to be in the gym.
Dillashaw kommer att möta Barao den 25 april vid UFC 186, en gala som äger rum i Quebec.
