Dominick Cruz Medically Cleared; Eyes T.J. Dillashaw-Cody Garbrandt Winner

UFC 227 is now available on Amazon Prime.

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight king Dominick Cruz is no stranger to injuries and extended layoffs. He spent three years on the sidelines between 2011 and 2014, and then another two years after that.

Now, it’s been yet another two long years since Cruz has stepped foot into the Octagon, but the former champion says he’s finally cleared to fight again and is hoping to compete by the end of this year.

Cruz revealed his current injury status at a media event on Thursday, and he finally had some good news to share with fight fans:

“I don’t know, I just got cleared by the doctor so I’m good to go,” said Cruz. “I’ll talk to (UFC matchmaker Sean) Shelby, I’ll talk to everybody. I’m on track though. So I will be going to fight. I’m going to fight before the end of the year is my goal so we’ll see what happens. ... I know T.J. Dillashaw and Cody are fighting and I should be having the winner of that.

“That’s what everybody wants to see so hopefully somebody gets some wits about them and gives me that fight right away. We’ll see what happens.”

The 33-year-old was last seen losing his bantamweight title to Cody Garbrandt at UFC 207 back in 2016, and since then, the landscape of the division has changed drastically. Garbrandt would go on to lose the belt to noted Cruz rival and former opponent T.J. Dillashaw, and a slew of contenders have emerged in his absence.

Marlon Moraes has risen up through the bantamweight ranks with stunning and quick knockouts over Aljamain Sterling and Jimmy Rivera, and is poised for a massive step-up in competition for his next UFC fight. Rivera himself was actually scheduled to fight Cruz last December when an arm injury forced Cruz out of yet another marquee fight.

With Dillashaw and Garbrandt set to run it back at UFC 227 in August, Cruz has his sights set on fighting the winner of that bout before the year’s end, with the possibility of him returning to action at a Dec. 8 pay-per-view in Toronto.

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