Dominick Cruz

Dominick Rogelio Cruz was born on March 9, 1985, in San Diego, California. He spent much of his childhood in a trailer park in Tucson, Arizona, living with his single mother, grandmother, and brother. Cruz began wrestling in the seventh grade and continued throughout high school at Flowing Wells High School. An injury during his senior year led to the loss of a wrestling scholarship opportunity at the University of Northern Colorado. Before becoming a full-time fighter, Cruz worked as a customer service representative at Lowe’s and studied to become a firefighter at community college.

Cruz started his professional mixed martial arts (MMA) career in 2005, building an undefeated record of 9-0 across the Rage in the Cage and Total Combat organizations. He transitioned to World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC), where he initially competed at featherweight, losing to Urijah Faber in 2007. This fight marked the beginning of a significant rivalry. Cruz then moved to the bantamweight division (135 lbs) within WEC, securing several decision victories, including wins against Ian McCall and Joseph Benavidez. His career progression saw him capture the WEC Bantamweight Championship in March 2010 by defeating Brian Bowles via TKO. He successfully defended this title twice, once in a rematch against Joseph Benavidez in August 2010.

In December 2010, Cruz faced Scott Jorgensen for both the WEC Bantamweight Championship and the newly established UFC Bantamweight Championship, winning by unanimous decision to become the inaugural UFC Bantamweight Champion. He defended the UFC title against Urijah Faber in July 2011 and Demetrious Johnson in October 2011. A series of injuries, including multiple ACL tears and a groin injury, forced him to vacate the UFC title in 2014 after nearly three years away from the sport. Cruz made a remarkable return in September 2014, securing a first-round KO against Takeya Mizugaki, which earned him a Performance of the Night bonus. He then regained the UFC Bantamweight Championship in January 2016 with a split-decision victory over T.J. Dillashaw, a comeback widely regarded as one of MMA’s greatest. He defended the title against Urijah Faber in June 2016 before losing it to Cody Garbrandt in December 2016. After further injury setbacks and a multi-year layoff, Cruz competed in several more bouts before announcing his retirement from competition in February 2025 following another shoulder injury.