Dominick Cruz’s return to action has been delayed.
The former UFC bantamweight champion is out of his scheduled main card fight against Rob Font at UFC Fight Night 252 in Seattle due to injury. The event takes place Feb. 22 at Climate Pledge Arena and is headlined by another 135-pound matchup between Henry Cejudo and Song Yadong.
MMA Junkie confirmed the news of Cruz’s withdrawal with two sources following a first report from Cageside Press.
Details of the injury to Cruz (24-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) were not revealed. The fight would have been the 39-year-old’s first in over 30 months. The last appearance for the well-respected former champ and UFC commentator was against Marlon Vera at UFC on ESPN 41 in August 2022, a bout he lost by knockout in the fourth round.
The UFC is currently seeking a replacement so that Font (21-8 MMA, 11-7 UFC) can remain on the card. Font, 37, was last in action in October, when he picked up a unanimous decision over Kyler Phillips to snap a two-fight skid.
With the news, the current UFC Fight Night 252 lineup includes:
- Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong
- Edson Barboza vs. Steve Garcia
- Melsik Baghdasaryan vs. Jean Silva
- Brendan Allen vs. Anthony Hernandez
- Rob Font vs. opponent TBA
- Adam Fugitt vs. Billy Ray Goff
- Curtis Blaydes vs. Rizvan Kuniev
- Ibo Aslan vs. Ion Cutelaba
- Macy Chiasson vs. Ketlen Vieira
- Chidi Njokuani vs. opponent TBA
- Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Nick Klein
- Modestas Bukauskas vs. Rafael Cerqueira\
- Javid Basharat vs. Ricky Simon
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