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Following his win over Casey Kenney at UFC 259, former UFC bantamweight kingpin Dominick Cruz is a man in demand.
No longer the top bantamweight in the UFC, Dominick Cruz has now become a major target for up-and-coming fighters wanting to make a name for themselves at 135lbs.
At the age of 36 and with countless injuries behind him, it’s likely that Dominick Cruz only has a handful of fights left in him – making it a sensible idea for the UFC to try to have him “pass the torch”.
So with that in mind, here are five potential “pass the torch” fights for UFC bantamweight legend Dominick Cruz.
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#5 Dominick Cruz vs. Sean O’Malley
Perhaps the most obvious fight to book Dominick Cruz in right now would be a clash with outspoken prospect Sean O’Malley.
O’Malley is expected to fight Louis Smolka in his next fight at UFC 264 – but it’s a fight that the Sugar Show will be expected to win comfortably.
If he does that, then it’s clearly time for a step up for the 26-year old. O’Malley has proven himself to be one of the most dangerous fighters in the UFC at 135lbs. He’s put together an impressive record of 5-1, with the only loss coming at the hands of fellow prospect Marlon Vera.
More to the point, O’Malley has one of the most infectious personalities in the UFC right now and is clearly on the fast track to stardom if he can keep on winning in the octagon.
That’s why a fight with Dominick Cruz makes so much sense. If the Sugar Show could overcome the Dominator, it’d be a huge feather in his cap, and would basically propel him into the stratosphere.
The trash talk between the two going into the fight would also be epic. If Cruz were to defeat O’Malley, it wouldn’t really matter – and would probably have most UFC fans cheering anyway.
Basically, this would be the perfect fight for the UFC to headline one of its smaller events with in late 2021.
#4 Dominick Cruz vs. Marlon Vera
Another fight that would make a lot of sense for Dominick Cruz right now would be a match against highly-rated prospect Marlon Vera.
Chito most recently overcame Davey Grant in a fantastic fight and actually called Cruz out for a clash in his post-fight interview.
It’s easy to see why he’d do that. Vera is one of the UFC’s most well-rounded bantamweights, capable of finishing opponents both on the feet and on the ground, and he’s wildly exciting to watch too.
However, his personality doesn’t quite scream “superstar”, largely because of his lack of English-speaking skills. Right now, he’s looking for that one big fight to push him over the edge and make him a must-watch attraction in the eyes of the fans.
Could Vera defeat Dominick Cruz? It’s highly possible. Cruz is slowing down at the age of 36, and Vera’s pressure game is one of the most difficult to deal with in the entire UFC. Sure, he lost to Jose Aldo recently, but Cruz isn’t as explosive an athlete as the former UFC featherweight champ.
The UFC might not see Vera as a potential star right now, but there’s the possibility that he could develop into a bantamweight version of current UFC lightweight champ Charles Oliveira. Therefore, it’s probably time for the UFC to book him in a big fight like this one.
#3 Dominick Cruz vs. Song Yadong
With Weili Zhang losing her UFC strawweight title this year, there’s every chance that the UFC will begin to look elsewhere for a potential Chinese superstar.
If they do, they should look no further than bantamweight prospect Song Yadong. The Kung-Fu Monkey most recently lost for the first time in the UFC against fellow prospect Kyler Phillips. However, his record is still highly impressive, with a win over Marlon Vera on his ledger.
Most importantly though, Song is a highly exciting fighter who possesses heavy hands and an excellent grappling game, making him a lot of fun to watch.
So why should the UFC book him and not Phillips against Dominick Cruz? Well, Song might be Chinese, but he’s also been training for years with Cruz’s biggest rivals – Team Alpha Male.
Cruz’s last fight with a Team Alpha Male representative didn’t end well – he was outpointed by Cody Garbrandt, losing his UFC bantamweight title in the process.
While Song isn’t likely to talk the trash that Garbrandt and Urijah Faber talked leading into their fights with Cruz, the UFC could easily push the angle – making this a potential must-see fight.
#2 Dominick Cruz vs. Rob Font
Rob Font might not be a prospect right now but he’s quite rightly considered a high-level contender at bantamweight. He's also got recent wins over Marlon Moraes and Cody Garbrandt under his belt.
However, it’d still be a good idea for the UFC to match him with Dominick Cruz.
Font is probably behind the winner of the upcoming TJ Dillashaw vs. Cory Sandhagen fight in terms of a UFC bantamweight title shot. That’s not even considering the potential for a third fight between current champ Aljamain Sterling and former champ Petr Yan.
But with those wins over Moraes and Garbrandt, Font should only take a big fight – and a clash with Dominick Cruz would definitely be big.
If Font were to come out on top in this fight, it would probably position him not only in line for a shot at the UFC bantamweight title – but it’d also mean he could brag about being the best striker in the 135lbs division.
If anything, this is probably the only fight Font ought to take before he gets a potential title shot.
#1 Dominick Cruz vs. Umar Nurmagomedov
The UFC’s quest to attempt to stop Khabib Nurmagomedov from retiring in 2020 was a sign of how highly they valued the Russian’s star power. So with that in mind, it’s natural that the promotion would want to look for a potential heir to his throne.
While the UFC lightweight division’s big Russian hope is now Islam Makhachev, it might be an idea for the promotion to look to push Khabib’s cousin Umar as the next big star at 135lbs.
Umar is currently just 1-0 in the UFC, but he looked fantastic in that fight, and overall, he’s 13-0 with seven finishes under his belt.
Could a fight with Dominick Cruz be a step too far for this prospect? Of course it might be; Cruz is arguably the greatest bantamweight in UFC history.
But it certainly wouldn’t hurt to try. Should Umar win the fight, he’d immediately be propelled towards stardom – thus following in the footsteps of his more illustrious cousin.
