Even among outstanding athletes, there are those who will always be better, faster, stronger, smarter than the rest, so that, climbing to the top, they stay there for a long time, confidently holding their champion belt for a long time and reliably. One of these fighters named Dominic Cruz will be discussed in this article.
Curriculum Vitae
The future star of mixed fights was born in the US state of Arizona, a town called Tucson. It has Mexican roots in its pedigree. Currently lives in California. The growth of the athlete is 173 centimeters. Coached by Dominic Cruz on the Alliance MMA team.
Professional performances
Initially, the athlete spoke in an organization called Rage in the Cage, after which he migrated to the Total Combat promotion, where he managed to win champion belts in featherweight and passenger divisions. According to the World MMA Awards, Dominic Cruz became the nominee for the Return of the Year Award in 2014.
Fights in WEC
Already in the first fight in this organization, Dominator got the right to the title fight in the featherweight category, in which he was opposed by champion Juraia Feiber. The fight began actively, and both rivals tried to show all their best skills. Already in the first round, Dominic Cruz fell for a choking reception and eventually had to give up. This defeat was the first in his career and today remains the only one.
The next matches Dominic Cruz against his opponents spent in the bantamweight. Among the fighters he defeated were such names as Ivan Lopez, Ian McCall and Joseph Benavides, for the battle with which he received a bonus of ten thousand dollars for the best fight of the evening.
Last champion
March 6, 2010 Cruz entered the cage to fight for the champion title against then-holder of the belt Brown Bowles. Throughout the battle, Dominic struck at various angles and, in the end, won by TKO, as doctors forbade Brian to continue to fight. Thus, the "Dominator" became the last owner of the WEC belt. And already his next fight he spent not only as a defense of the belt of the promotion that has sunk into oblivion, but also as the champion of UFC - the company that bought WEC.
Career at the Ultimate Fighting Championship
Dominic Cruz, whose injuries weren’t too frequent due to injuries, already in the first fight the UFC again confronted Faber. This time, Cruz was able to beat his offender with a judicial decision. At the same time, both athletes were awarded $ 75,000 for the brightest fight of the evening.
This was followed by a victory over Demetrius Johnson and a long downtime (three years) due to a rupture of the cruciate ligaments and stretching of the groin. After this, Dominic triumphantly returned, defeating Takei Mizugaki. This allowed Cruz to challenge the title again in a duel with TJ Dilashaw. The battle "Dominator" won a separate decision of the judges, which caused a storm of indignation from his ardent opponents.
By the way, before becoming an elite fighter, Dominic was trained as a firefighter in college, and also worked as a consultant specializing in serving various clients.