"I was shocked" - Dominick Cruz reveals former opponent T. J. Dillashaw reached out after injury forced him out of UFC Seattle

At UFC Seattle, former two-time bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz was set to face Rob Font at UFC Fight Night 252 on Feb. 22. This was supposed to be Cruz's retirement fight.

After three years away from the octagon, Cruz’s return was long-awaited, but a severe shoulder injury forced him to withdraw from the bout. Cruz explained that the injury occurred during intensive training sessions, a culmination of years of wear and tear from his storied MMA career.

He described the pain as excruciating and said it left him feeling as if he were "on borrowed time."

In an interview with Ariel Helwani, Cruz recalled receiving unexpected support during this difficult time. He revealed that several prominent figures reached out to him, with a message from former rival T.J. Dillashaw standing out. Cruz stated:

“I've gotten a few notes from, um, from some big names, you know, the one of the ones that stood out to me was TJ Dillashaw actually reached out to me. I was shocked! He gave me a recommendation for a shoulder doctor and said he was looking forward to watching me compete and was sorry that I couldn't.”

Expressing his gratitude for these gestures, Cruz added:

"People who have been through a lot in their life and continue to keep moving forward, those are the ones that I can, like, you know, resonate with now that I can't resonate with everybody. I can accept and be grateful for all of it, but these are the names that stand out to me as people who really put themselves into the fire on a regular basis in their life, and when they reach out, it shows you that there's some sort of strand of connectivity that we're all on; otherwise, that wouldn't happen. So that's refreshing."

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Dominick Cruz opens up on using antidepressants before 2016 title fight against T.J. Dillashaw

Dominick Cruz opened up about a deeply personal period in his career. Before his 2016 title fight against T.J. Dillashaw, Cruz revealed that he had to rely on antidepressants to help manage the emotional toll of his injuries and the sudden loss of his training routine.

Cruz explained that years of intense training and competition had taken a heavy toll on his body and mind. Frequent injuries disrupted his routine, leading to periods when he could no longer train as he had since childhood.

The abrupt change in his daily exercise regimen affected his mental well-being, forcing him to seek medical help in the form of antidepressants. Cruz recalled his struggles in vivid detail, during the interview with Ariel Helwani, stating:

"I had blown my knee out three times in two and a half years, plus a torn quad off the bone, and I was sad that I couldn't compete, and I was sad that I couldn't train. I was depressed. I had lost my drug, and uh, that's another thing. So I had to, you know, when you exercise every single day since you're 11 years old, and then all of a sudden you cut that chemical out of your body, you're no longer exercising, you're no longer because you can't. It's a literal um chemical makeup change, and it made me really sad, and it made me really low, not to mention that my life wasn't working separate from fighting."

He added:

"Thank God for the injuries because they threw me into not having the sport where I got to feel how miserable I was and then focus on those things... I was on antidepressants and I was scared to get off of them because I was scared to turn into the crazy person that I was."

Check out Dominick Cruz's comments (31:14):