A pioneer of the lighter weight classes will be the latest member of the UFC Hall of Fame.
Former bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz, now a regular part of the promotion’s broadcast team, will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame later this year. The promotion made the announcement Saturday just ahead of the UFC 324 main card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
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Cruz was on the broadcast at the time as part of the UFC’s debut on Paramount+ at the first event in a new seven-year deal. Cruz (24-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) will be the 17th member of the Modern Wing of the UFC Hall of Fame.
“Dominick Cruz is one of the greatest bantamweights in combat sports history,” UFC CEO Dana White said in a news release. “Dominick was an amazing athlete who set the standard for bantamweights, and it will be an honor to induct him into the UFC Hall of Fame this summer.”
Cruz was the final 135-pound champion in WEC history just ahead of that promotion’s merger with the UFC. That made him the UFC’s inaugural bantamweight champion after he beat Scott Jorgensen to defend the title at WEC 53 in 2010.
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Cruz defended his title twice in 2011 in his first year in the UFC, but injuries kept him sidelined for nearly three years, and he had to vacate the title. He won the belt back in January 2016 and had three fights that year, but lost the title to Cody Garbrandt.
Injuries took Cruz out again after that, and it was another 3.5 years until he returned in May 2020 for a title shot against Henry Cejudo, which he lost at UFC 249. Cruz went 2-1 to round out his career, but called it quits after a knockout loss in 2022 to Marlon Vera.
Cruz’s resume includes two wins over UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber, and former UFC or WEC champs Demetrious Johnson, T.J. Dillashaw and Brian Bowles. He has the longest title reign in UFC bantamweight history and the most title fight wins in UFC/WEC bantamweight history. His 14 wins overall at 135 pounds in the UFC/WEC are tied for the most ever. Cruz has won Analyst of the Year honors at the World MMA Awards three times in the past, when he was balancing fighting and broadcast duties.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Dominick Cruz announced as latest UFC Hall of Fame inductee
