Three years later, count on ex-champ Dominick Cruz being better than ever

LAS VEGAS -- Dominick Cruz was once one of the greatest fighters alive.

Three years and a slew of injuries later and no one knows for sure what, if anything, Cruz has left. Cruz last fought when he defeated current UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson in a bantamweight title fight on Versus on Oct. 1, 2011.

After that loss, Johnson dropped in weight, won the flyweight title and is now fourth in the UFC's pound-for-pound rankings. He'll defend his belt on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden in the main event of UFC 178 when he takes on massive longshot Chris Cariaso.

Things worked out dramatically differently for Cruz in the aftermath of that outstanding win. He injured a knee while preparing for a rematch with Urijah Faber at UFC 148 and had to pull out of their planned 2012 rubber match. Later in 2012, Cruz's body rejected a ligament from a cadaver that had been used to repair his torn ACL, so he required another surgery.

He missed all of 2013 while healing, but was preparing to face Renan Barao in February when he tore a groin. After waiting patiently, UFC president Dana White could wait no more. He stripped Cruz of his bantamweight title.

Cruz is finally healthy and, assuming he doesn't trip in the next few days, will meet Takeya Mizugaki on Saturday at the MGM Grand.

Because of the insane time he's been away -- Exactly two years, 11 months and 27 days, or 1,093 total days by fight night -- there is legitimate question about what kind of a fighter Cruz will be when he steps into the Octagon on Saturday.

He's a fighter who relied on terrific lateral movement and agility, and he's had a pair of knee surgeries since last he fought.

No doubt the quality of the fighters in the sport has improved since Cruz last was seen.

He's not getting a "gimme" in his return, either. Mizugaki is ranked No. 5 at bantamweight and has won five in a row and six of his last seven. If Cruz isn't prepared, Mizugaki will handle him.

The bet here, though, is that not only is Cruz going to be as good as he ever was, but he'll probably be even better. Such wouldn't have been the case as recently as 20 years ago. The kind of major knee injuries he had would have robbed him of his quickness, of his lateral movement, of his agility; in other words, he'd have lost all of the things that made him who he was in the first place.

Science is better and athletes lose little of their physical skills after that type of surgery. Cruz also has a brilliant MMA mind going for him, which he regularly shows as, arguably, the finest MMA analyst in Fox Sports' deep and talented stable of analysts.

Few understand the fight game as well as Cruz, and the factors that influence a fight.

And so while many wonder if Cruz will ever be the same as he was, I'd suggest he'll be better than ever. He's had three years to study the sport and identify things that were weaknesses in his game and ways to do things better than he had been. He's been able to pick apart potential future opponents, getting a keen understanding of how he'd be able to deal with them.

If I were a betting man, I'd bet that next week when the pound-for-pound rankings come out on UFC.com, Cruz's name will not only be on the list, but high up on it.

The guy is that good. It's why they call him "The Dominator."