There will be no shortage of intriguing matchups for the UFC to consider making in 2025 and one former champion looking to get booked for a one last fight is Dominick Cruz.
The UFC’s inaugural 135-pound champ has not fought since 2022, has only competed four times since losing the title in 2016 and eight times in total since 2011 mostly due to injuries, but told TMZ Sports this week he is hoping to get one last fight “probably early next year” against a yet-to-be-determined opponent.
Cruz, who will turn 40 in March, is perhaps more known to modern MMA fans for his role as a commentator and analyst during UFC broadcasts and has lost three of his past five fights overall.
“I'll tell you, I think I got a last dance,” Cruz said. “I want one last dance. Just go out there and have fun. And when I say fun, I mean fight to the bitter death and see what I have in me.”
A fantasy matchup fight fans have long pondered is one between Cruz and Jose Aldo, a fellow former UFC and WEC champion. Cruz’s last fight was a 2022 fourth-round knockout loss to Marlon Vera.
In other UFC news…
MIOCIC RELEASES STATEMENT AFTER UFC 309 RETIREMENT
Stipe Miocic officially announced his retirement from mixed martial arts this past weekend and did so without requiring many words. The former heavyweight champion expanded on the loss and his fighting career in a social media post.
“Let me start this post by saying I am good. Been through a lot worse,” Miocic wrote a couple of days after being stopped in the third round by Jon Jones in a heavyweight title bout at UFC 309. “I hope everybody enjoyed the show on Saturday. What an incredible way to go out! I started this journey fighting in local bowling alleys & ended it selling out Madison Square Garden. It truly doesn’t get (better) than that.
“Sorry I don’t get the W, but you can’t get ‘em all. Sometimes it’s not your night, that is the nature of the beast. You can’t plan a perfect ending in this sport, but I guess the perfect ending is to have been lucky enough to do it at all. You all have given me so much, and I hope I did you all proud. Croatia & Cleveland Ohio especially. I felt all of you with me at every battle.”
Miocic, 42, retired with a pro MMA record of 20-5, with four losses coming to fellow UFC heavyweight champions. He holds wins over three of the five fighters to defeat him and still holds the UFC record for most heavyweight title defences with four.
ALVAREZ, STEPHENS SET FOR BARE-KNUCKLE BOUT
A pair of former UFC fighters are scheduled to headline an upcoming Bare Knuckle FC event scheduled for Jan. 25 in Philadelphia. Former UFC and Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez is set to face Jeremy Stephens, the organization announced Tuesday.
Alvarez went 1-1 in BKFC after debuting in 2023 with a win over Chad Mendes and a loss to Mike Perry. Stephens is 2-0 in BKFC with wins over Jimmie Rivera and most recently Bobby Taylor in September.
Conor McGregor, a part-owner of BKFC, is a former opponent of Alvarez and shared a viral internet moment with Stephens during a UFC press conference years ago.
Speaking of the former two-weight UFC champion who was recently challenged yet again by Michael Chandler…
MCGREGOR BRIEFLY ACKNOWLEDGES CHANDLER
In a social media post he later deleted, McGregor wrote, “Cut Michael Chandler! Just kidding, good fight. Mad little fellow is Michael. I like em’!” following Chandler’s five-round unanimous decision loss to Charles Oliveira in the UFC 309 co-main event that won a Fight of the Night award.
McGregor and Chandler were expected to meet in the UFC’s Octagon on multiple occasions after coaching opposite one another on a recent season of The Ultimate Fighter but the matchup has yet to come to fruition.
A UFC 303 main event was cancelled in the summer after McGregor sustained a toe injury and withdrew from the event.
Chandler, instead of continuing to wait for McGregor who hasn’t fought in more than three years, decided to accept the rematch with Oliveira after which he called out McGregor.
Dana White said at UFC 309 that McGregor could potentially return in the latter half of 2025.
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