Dominick Cruz Details Latest Injury Which Will Sideline Him For Months

Recently it was revealed that Dominick Cruz will not fight John Lineker in January, and now the former bantamweight champ has provided details regarding the latest injury, and it’s not looking good…

Cruz was booked to face Lineker at UFC 233, January 26th, when that event was still a go. Then word surfaced that Cruz was pulling out of the fight due to injury.

Well, more recently the 33-year-old Cruz spoke with Ariel Helwani, and while doing so, he reported this (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“I’ve done everything very carefully to make sure that I’m ready for this one,” Cruz said. “[I start sparring] and at the very end of my second round, I threw a right hand and as I throw an overhand right I felt . . . a click in my right shoulder and then I felt my fingers go numb. Right away I knew something separated because you’re not supposed to get blood flow and numbness to your fingers unless it’s a detrimental injury. So I stopped right away, got out, and I literally left that practice knowing that I told my shoulder and went straight to an MRI.

“My subscapularis is completely torn off and my supraspinatus is 75 percent torn off. So from what I understand, they have to take the tendon and reattach it with a screw of some sort into the bone to get everything reconnected. . . It’s basically an ACL [tear] of the shoulder.”

So, obviously, this is extremely unfortunate news, as Cruz could be sidelined for a year as he recovers from this. If you’re a big-time fan you know that Cruz has fought just four times now since 2011 on account of injuries.

As Cruz noted, however, he’s come back from setbacks like this before and reclaimed the 135 crown. The former champ’s last bout took place in December 2016, when he lost the bantamweight title to Cody Garbrandt. Prior to that, Cruz completed his unforgettable comeback in January of that same year, by taking the 135 title from TJ Dillashaw.