Report | Dominick Cruz injured out of bout with John Lineker at UFC 233, Cody Garbrandt targeted as replacement

It seems that disaster has struck once again for the former bantamweight king Dominick Cruz.

Having his comeback set for UFC 233 on January 26 opposite John Lineker, that appears to longer be the case as MMA Brasil’s Tarso Doria reports that Cruz has sustained yet another fight canceling injury. Thus prompting the promotion to pursue Cruz’ last opponent, Cody Garbrandt to replace him against the Brazilian.

#Breaking Dominick Cruz appears to be out of the fight against John Lineker with an injury. UFC is looking for Cody Garbrandt as replacement, sources tell me. More at @mmabrasil soon.

— Tarso Doria (@TarsoDoria) December 11, 2018

“#Breaking Dominick Cruz appears to be out of the fight against John Lineker with an injury. UFC is looking for Cody Garbrandt as replacement, sources tell me. More at @mmabrasil soon.”

For Dominick Cruz, he has been plagued with bad luck in regards to injuries since he coached on season 15 of The Ultimate Fighter alongside his rival Urijah Faber. As the two were set to fight at the end of the season for the third time, Cruz would suffer a torn ACL that put him out of action.

Since then, he’s suffered two more ACL tears along with a torn groin and a broken arm. The details of this next potential injury remain unknown.

Cruz last fought in December 2016. That year he returned from the majority of his career injuries to recapture the title he never lost and fight three times after only fighting once in the previous four years combined.

In that last bout of his, Cruz lost the first UFC fight of his career when he was challenged by Cody Garbrandt. Since then Garbrandt has fought TJ Dillashaw twice and lost on both occasions via knockout.

A card that looked oh so promising in its early building stage now seems to be slowly falling apart after the removal of its main event. As a matchup that fans have wanted for a while, Garbrandt vs John Lineker would be a welcome addition to UFC 233 in Anaheim.

However, according to MMA Junkie’s John Morgan, Garbrandt might not be ready to fill in at that time.

Checking with Cody Garbrandt’s camp, I’m told he is still recovering from a hand injury right now and is targeting a March return – therefore, he would not be available to face John Lineker at UFC 233.

— John Morgan (@JohnMorgan_MMA) December 11, 2018

“Checking with Cody Garbrandt’s camp, I’m told he is still recovering from a hand injury right now and is targeting a March return – therefore, he would not be available to face John Lineker at UFC 233.”

Who would you like to see fill in for Cruz?

on 12/11/2018