Dominick Cruz Is ‘Absolutely Pumped’ To Fight On UFC 178 FOX Prelims

Former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz is one of a long list of absent talent from the promotion’s roster, and has served the longest on the injury list with a near three-year sit. The news that ‘The Dominator’ would return at UFC 178 to face fellow WEC veteran Takeya Mizugaki was music to the ears of Cruz’s fans.

Then came the news that the former champion would be fighting on the FOX Sports prelims, which was met with a few raised eyebrows. For Cruz though, that cloud has a very silver lining. Check out what ‘The Dominator’ said while talking to UFC Tonight, transcribed by MMAFighting.com:

“FS1 is in 90 million households, It did 735k viewers on my teammate Ross Pearson’s fight. At this point with the last two-plus years off, I’m just pumped to FINALLY be in there fighting again, period.”

Since 2011, a litany of nasty injuries have seen the former dominant champ sat idle. Torn ligaments and cadaver implants, as well as the most recent groin injury saw Cruz vacate his title at the turn of 2014. It has since changed hands from Renan Barao, to the heavy underdog TJ Dillashaw. It appears that fighting on the prelims is not a problem for “The Dominator”, as he continues:

“My team at FOX Sports has been with me through this entire injury ,witnessing me go crazy watching each and every fight card,” Cruz said. “Now I get to go show them, alongside the rest of the world, how I can fight. It’s not a downfall in any way at this point in the fight world to be on prelims anymore with these kind of views that FOX gets. It’s my pleasure, and I’m absolutely PUMPED to just compete again!”

Two-time Cruz opponent Urijah Faber recently headlined a preliminary card with his bout against Alex Cacares, and also shared the same opinion as the former bantamweight champion. It would appear that headlining a prelim card is better than getting the number five slot on the PPV.

Undoubtedly, a win for Cruz would see him right back in the mix at 135 pounds, but who knows what will happen if Mizugaki is able to get the win. So many thick story lines and epic bouts are making UFC 178 the card of the year candidate; even with the loss of Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier as headliner. Did somebody say Eddie Alvarez vs Donald Cerrone? Hellyeah they did!