Dominick Cruz crushes Takeya Mizugaki in comeback fight to the UFC
After three long years outside of fighting, Dominick Cruz returned on Saturday night at UFC 178 and managed to somehow look better than ever as he knocked out Takeya Mizugaki in just 61 seconds into the first round.
As Jay-Z's voice hit the loudspeakers at the MGM Grand Garden Arena saying 'please allow me to re-introduce myself', Cruz sprinted to the cage, anxious to pick up where his career was halted when he blew out his knee and forced him to the sideline for the better part of 36 months.
Cruz came out and looked as light on his feet as he ever did and after a brief exchange with Mizugaki on the feet, the former UFC bantamweight champion tossed his Japanese opponent to the mat with a huge slam takedown.
Cruz transitioned immediately as the fighters scrambled against the cage and he started to unload a barrage of strikes as Mizugaki could only put up his hand to defend. Mizugaki managed to get to his feet for a split second, but Cruz immediately hammered him with another short punch to put him back down again.
With Mizugaki's arm trapped, Cruz unloaded a slew of unanswered shots that rattled his opponent's jaw over and over again until he finally went out and landed face first on the canvas. The official stoppage came at 1:01, but this win was three years in the making.
"In my heart I wanted to be here but it's been tough, I'm not going to deny that," Cruz said after the win.
Cruz actually said following the stoppage that he blacked out during the final sequence and had no memory of finishing Mizugaki until the replay on the big screen in the arena while he was talking to UFC commentator Joe Rogan.
The victory was met with a huge chorus of cheers as Cruz was welcomed back with open arms and now it's going to be hard to stop him from going right back to the top of the bantamweight division after Saturday night. Considering Cruz never lost his bantamweight title, a fight with champion T.J. Dillashaw certainly seems like a fight that could happen in the very near future.
