Cruz expects to be sidelined for a year with shoulder injury

Dominick Cruz has another lengthy injury recovery ahead of him.

The former two-time UFC bantamweight champion, who last week pulled out of next month’s scheduled bout with John Lineker, revealed Monday on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show that he tore two ligaments in his right shoulder during sparring and will undergo surgery that he expects to keep him out of the Octagon for approximately a year.

“It’s basically an ACL of the shoulder,” he said.

This is just the latest setback in an injury-riddled career for the 33-year-old Californian. Cruz last fought in December 2016, dropping a unanimous decision to Cody Garbrandt that ended his second reign with the 135-pound belt. He was scheduled to fight Jimmie Rivera a year later but had to pull out of the bout with a broken arm.

The Garbrandt bout was Cruz’s third fight of 2016, a year that started with a split-decision win over then-champ TJ Dillashaw. Before that, Cruz had fought just once since 2011, his career sidetracked by three ACL surgeries as well as a torn groin.

“It’s just part of my journey, and it’s going to be part of my legacy, these injuries,” Cruz said.

Although Cruz has become an MMA analyst for Fox telecasts, he was adamant on Monday that he will continue his fighting career. “Exactly when you quit in sports,” he said, “is exactly when you quit in life.”