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Dominick Cruz: 'I'm still the best bantamweight in the world'

Dominick Cruz [L] punches rival Urijah Faber. (MMA Weekly)

Dominick Cruz will fight for the first time in nearly three years when he faces Takeya Mizugaki this Saturday in Las Vegas. The former WEC and UFC bantamweight champion never lost his title in the ring, but a string of traumatic injuries and reconstructive surgeries have kept him out of the Octagon since his Oct. 2011 title defense against now-flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson.

Cruz hasn't competed in so long that it's anyone's guess as to how well he'll still be able to perform. The fighter, however, is confident that there's still no one better than him at 135 pounds.

"I'm still the best bantamweight in the world in my mind," he recently told Damon Martin.

"That's still something I need to go in there and fight. It's been a long time since I fought. If I had any doubt that I was the best in the world then I shouldn't be competing. If you don't think you're going to be the best, what's the point?"

Cruz still knows he has to walk to the cage and prove what he believes in his own mind. However, he says he long ago made the decision to be the best, and everything else has followed.

"I choose to be the best bantamweight on the planet and I'm going to make it happen," he said.

Are you as excited to watch "The Dominator" back in action, this Saturday as we are? Let us know in the comments section.

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