It’s a day for fight cancellations.
Former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz has pulled out of his UFC 219 contest with Jimmie Rivera after suffering a broken arm in training. It comes just hours after UFC 218 headliner Frankie Edgar withdrew from his contest with Max Holloway. Ariel Helwani first reported the news.
Dominick Cruz is out of the UFC 219 fight vs. Jimmie Rivera, sources say. Broken arm. TBD at this time what they’ll do with Rivera.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) November 9, 2017
It marks the latest in a long, long line of setbacks for Cruz. After losing his title to Cody Garbrandt last year at UFC 207, Cruz elected to take some time out of active competition to heal up his body after a busy year last year. Now, just a month from his return, Cruz has suffered the fourth major injury of his career.
It also comes at a time when he could well ascend to the top of the bantamweight division. Last Saturday at UFC 217, Garbrandt lost his title to T.J. Dillashaw — who himself originally lost the title to Cruz. Should Cruz have won the contest with Rivera, a rematch for the 135-pound title would likely have been on the horizon.
