Dominick Cruz redefined the bantamweight division with a style that was all his own.
The former Ultimate Fighting Championship and World Extreme Cagefighting titleholder has experienced higher highs and lower lows than the vast majority of his contemporaries, with significant injuries having knocked him off his pedestal more than once. Nevertheless, Cruz was a pound-for-pound mainstay at the peak of his powers, even as his inability to stay healthy cost him considerable chunks of his career. He last appeared at UFC on ESPN 41, where his record fell to 24-4 in a fourth-round knockout loss to Marlon Vera on Aug. 13.
As the mixed martial arts world awaits word on Cruz’s next move, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied him to this point:
38: Years of age for Cruz, who was born in Tucson, Arizona, on March 9, 1985. “Witness” was the No. 1 movie at the domestic box office and REO Speedwagon’s “Can’t Fight This Feeling” was the No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 list at the time.
7: Cruz wins by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 29% of his career total. His list of UFC and WEC victims: Takeya Mizugaki and Brian Bowles. Cruz holds one other win by submission (4%)—he took care of Juan Miranda with a rear-naked choke under the Total Combat banner in 2006—and 16 more by decision (67%).
72: Rounds completed by Cruz as a professional mixed martial artist. He has gone the distance on 17 different occasions and carries a 16-1 record in those bouts.
56: Seconds needed for Cruz to put away Tom Schwager at a Rage in the Cage show on Aug. 6, 2005. Nearly 18 years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.
4: Organizations for which Cruz has plied his mixed martial arts trade. He has gone 7-3 in the UFC, 7-1 in the WEC, 6-0 in Rage in the Cage and 4-0 in Total Combat.
275,000: Dollars in post-fight bonuses banked by Cruz across his 10 appearances in the UFC. He has been awarded “Fight of the Night” four times and “Performance of the Night” once.
28: Takedowns completed by Cruz as a UFC bantamweight, tying him with Rani Yahya for sixth on the promotion’s all-time list at 135 pounds. Only Merab Dvalishvili (61), Ricky Simon (39), Tony Gravely (33), Aljamain Sterling (32) and Brett Johns (29) have recorded more.
117: Significant strikes landed by Cruz during his five-round unanimous decision over Scott Jorgensen in the WEC 53 co-main event on Dec. 16, 2010, establishing a personal high-water mark that stands to this day.
13: Straight victories for Cruz between March 22, 2008 and June 4, 2016. It remains the longest such streak on his resume.
.754: Cumulative winning percentage between the four opponents—Vera, Henry Cejudo, Cody Garbrandt and Urijah Faber—who have beaten Cruz. They sport a combined record of 84-27-1.
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