Dominick Cruz Expects to be Out Nine Months Following His Third ACL Surgery
Last week, former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz underwent surgery in Los Angeles to repair a torn ACL. It was the third time the 29-year-old has gone under the knife for an ACL injury in his career and expects to be back in action in about nine months.
“It went well. Obviously, I have done this more times than I’d like, but I’ve become pretty used to the sequence of events that take place,” Cruz said during an appearance on The MMA Hour.
“I’m looking at probably like nine months. A typical ACL surgery is six to nine months minimum. I’m just going to say nine months because that’s what the doctors say. That can be later, or it can be a little bit sooner. There’s no way that it will be any faster than six months,” he said.
Cruz tore his first ACL in May 2012 while preparing for UFC 148. In December of the same year, Cruz underwent a second surgery after his body rejected the cadaver ligament used to replace his torn one.
He was expected to return in Feb. 2014 at UFC 169 but a torn groin forced him out of the event. He vacated his title and after nearly three years away from the sport, Cruz returned at UFC 178 in Sept. 2014 in impressive fashion. He earned a Performance of the Night bonus for his first-round knockout of Takeya Mizugaki. He was expected for face champion T.J. Dillashaw in his next outing but tore the ACL in his other knee.
This time around, Cruz has taken every step to ensure a successful recovery and a timely return.
“For this surgery, something that I did for my own well being was I made it where my physical therapist, my doctor and every physical therapist I have now are all talking, all in communication and all on the same page. That was something that never took place in my first two surgeries,” Cruz revealed.
“Everybody has been very helpful in making sure that this surgery is completely successful at the highest level the very first time around instead of it failing like the first time. I definitely made sure that everything was – all my I’s were dotted and my T’s were crossed on this surgery to get back in there as soon as possible,” he said.
