UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz is hoping to make his latest attempt to return to the Octagon in February after a long spell out injured.
Major surgeries to his ACL have resulted in Cruz having to spend the last two years of his life on the treatment table and lead to fears that he may never step back into the Octagon to defend his title, but the latest news suggests that perhaps there is still hope yet.
“He told me he’s returning (to fighting) in February,” current 135lb interim champion Renan Barao claims in a new interview with MMAfighting.com. “I was really happy to hear that, I hope he can return so we can finally fight.”
That would be good news if true, but it turns out that it’s a date that’s not exactly set in stone according to Cruz himself.
In an interview with MMAJunkie.com he reveals that the February date is just a personal goal, but at this stage his doctors haven’t even given him the all-clear to begin training yet, let alone set a month that he could return to action.
Naturally Cruz, now 28 and wielding a 19-1 career record, is eager to finally make his return, but he’s also aware that he can’t afford any more setbacks. If there was that would almost certainly result in his title belt having to be relinquished, and more worryingly it could mean the end of his career.
