UFC 199: Dominick Cruz, win or lose, continues to evolve

CHULA VISTA, Calif. >> Dominick Cruz mugged for the cameras with a can of Monster energy drink. He listened to the judges’ scores being read. He stood and waited, as did champion T.J. Dillashaw.

UFC ring aouncer Bruce Buffer, with an appropriately effective and dramatic pause, bellowed, “Aaaand ... NEW!!! ...”

Referee Herb Dean lifted Cruz’s right arm, Cruz hoisting his left arm at the same time, letting out a triumphant yell before his coaches rushed in for a massive hug.

Four months ago, Cruz had finally reclaimed what was once his: the UFC bantamweight belt.

As he held the 12-pound strap for all the cheering Boston crowd to see, Cruz was again on top of the UFC’s 135-pound division.

It is regarded by many as the greatest career comeback in the history of MMA.

He was again on top of the world.

This was two years after his world had collapsed on top of him.

“Everybody hits their rock bottom in their life,” Cruz (21-1) said after a recent workout at Alliance MMA. “It’s just a question of: Are you going to let it stop you or evolve you?”

Cruz’s evolution as a champion and a person continues Saturday in the UFC 199 co-main event against bitter rival and third-ranked Urijah Faber (33-8) at The Forum in Inglewood.

Growth is a common theme in Cruz’s life.

As a fighter, he has built an impressive resume. His only loss came in 2007. He was 22 and making his WEC debut. Faber, the featherweight champion, needed less than two minutes to sink in a guillotine choke.

Cruz, 31, has since won 12 in a row, including the inaugural UFC bantamweight title in 2011.

He has also carved out a potential post-fight career as an MMA analyst. His quick wit and acumen have made him a natural in the studio on Fox Sports 1.

Perspective is also an intrinsic component.

Those 12 consecutive victories haven’t exactly come right after another.

Cruz didn’t fight for three years. He had just one fight — a first-round TKO of Takeya Mizugaki at UFC 178 in September 2014 — in four-plus years before dethroning Dillashaw.

Along the way, Cruz suffered a gauntlet of injuries that would have shelved most athletes.

• May 2012: Knee surgery for a to ACL.

• December 2012: Another ACL surgery after his body rejected the ligament he had received from a cadaver in May.

• January 2014: Stripped of his UFC bantamweight title after suffering a to quadriceps muscle.

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• December 2014: Tears the ACL in his other knee.

The toughest injury, according to Cruz, was the to quad. He had already gone through the two knee surgeries and was training to defend his belt against No. 1 contender Renan Barao.

“‘Man. you’re pulling out of another fight. You’re disappointing people. You’re disappointing yourself and the people who helped you get ready in this camp,’” Cruz recalled. “And it feels like it’s bigger than yourself and you just let down everybody.”

The UFC had little choice but to strip Cruz of his title, which he had held for three years though inactive for the last two.

Suddenly, Cruz saw the bigger picture. At 28 years old, he might be done as a fighter.

So he got out and got away. For the first time since he began wrestling in the seventh grade, he stopped competing.

“The realization is ... it was taken away by himself. He had to look to himself and say, ‘What am I doing? What’s next for me?’” Alliance MMA head coach Eric Del Fierro said. “His faith and dedication to himself got him through it. It made him a happier person.”

He started working as an analyst. He went home to Arizona and visited family. He sat on the couch.

In his own words, he got fat and out of shape. And at times, he got depressed.

“I’m not afraid to admit that, but all that stuff, that was the clarity that was what I needed in order to lea and grow in my own mind,” he said. “And then that all taught me how to enjoy where I am right now. And it’s not that much pressure now because it’s really all about being better than I was the day before.”

After coming back and defeating Mizugaki, he blew out the ACL in his other knee.

This time, Cruz knew what he needed to do. He stepped back and let his body heal.

Then came the offer to fight Dillashaw. Cruz had been rehabbing his knee, but without any training. He was 40 pounds heavy.

When else would this opportunity come?

“I went straight from nothing to five rounds again, and it’s just so hard to get your body in shape when you’re that far gone,” he said. “And it took a lot of mental toughness to get through that camp because it was just so much pain.”

Del Fierro said Cruz’s timing was off, so much so that he was far from championship form

“I’ve never told anyone this. We did about 50 to 60 rounds of live sparring, and he probably only won 10 percent of those rounds,” Del Fierro said. “He was trying to find his rhythm. His mind got him through that.”

Now Cruz comes into his second reign as bantamweight champion, his first defense a trilogy matchup against Faber.

Come Saturday night, someone will own bragging rights after this rubber match.

And it will be either Faber wining UFC gold for the first time in four tries.

Or Cruz continuing his evolution.

“The match makes sense because I don’t like him and I just want to beat him up and shut it out and finish this thing out,” Cruz said. “It’s a challenge for myself too. The guy is good. He’s a veteran. He’s got a lot of experience and he knows how to fight. Not taking anything away from him there.

“But I just know that I’m better.”

UFC 199

• Saturday, June 4

• The Forum, Inglewood

• Main event: Middleweight champion Luke Rockhold (15-2) vs. No. 4 Michael Bisping (29-7)

• Co-main event: Bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz (21-1) vs. No. 3 Urijah Faber (33-8)

• Main card: 7 p.m. (PPV)

• Prelims: 5 p.m. (Fox Sports 1)

• Early prelims: 3:15 p.m. (UFC Fight Pass)

The Cruz File

• Name: Dominick Rojelio Cruz

• Nickname: The Dominator

• Bo: March 9, 1985, in Tucson, Ariz.

• Record: 21-1, 4-0 in UFC.

• Finishes: 6 by KO, 3 by submission.

• Titles: Total Combat lightweight champion (2006) and featherweight champion (2006); WEC bantamweightweight champion (2010); Two-time UFC bantamweight champion (2010-2014, 2016).