Injury-jinxed former bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz has yet again been forced out of a fight.
Cruz was lined up to fight Jimmie Rivera at UFC 219 on December 30th in Las Vegas, but he’s believed to have suffered a broken arm that will rule him out of the bout on the pay-per-view portion of the end-of-year show.
That means the 32-year-old Cruz won’t have fought in 2017, with his last appearance coming at UFC 207 in December of last year where he lost the 135lb title to Cody Garbrandt by unanimous decision.
The news is also a blow for the No.3 ranked Rivera, who would have seen a victory over Cruz as a potential path to title contention next year.
The 28-year-old Rivera has been on a hugely impressive 20-fight winning streak that encompasses victories in the likes of Bellator, WSOF, King Of The Cage as well as his five wins so far in the UFC.
It remains to be seen whether Rivera will be kept on the card, but fellow bantamweight contender John Lineker has already indiated that he’d be willing to fight him if that is what the UFC wants to do.
Losing Cruz is a blow for UFC 219, which still remains without a headlining fight less than two months out from the show.
As it stands the most notable bouts on the card include Khabib Nurmagomedov Vs Edson Barboza, Carlos Condit Vs Neil Magny and Cynthia Calvillo Vs Carlza Esparza.
