Dana to meet with Dominick Cruz to discuss the future

Quote :

"He's our champ, he's our guy, and he needs time," UFC President Dana White on Thursday told MMAjunkie.com . "But we're getting to the point now where we really need to make a decision."

"This poor kid ... I've never seen anybody with more bad luck than Cruz, man," White said. "And for him, coming back into this division, you know the way the sport is to have been off for over two years."

"This is stuff that needs to be talked about with him, and even if I had a decision about him, I wouldn't say it here," White said. "He deserves the respect to come out to Vegas and sit down and talk about it."

http://www.mmajunkie.com/news/2013/03/ufc-president-calls-for-meeting-with-injured-champ-dominick-cruz-on-future

He should be stripped of the title. In my opinion if you don't defend it every calender year then you should be stripped of the title.

Nothing is held up in the division. All the best fights that can happen by the fighters able to compete in them are happening and there is a belt in circulation as a prize for those fights as well. Unless he plans on not fighting for the ufc again, he shouldn't be demoted for anything less than what happens in the cage. All the time off and injury just makes it tougher on Cruz coming back but as the champ he has earned the right to come back as the champ and show he still is the best or go out trying against whoever has ended up being the man in his absence at that time.

to be the man, you gotta beat the man. Cruz is champ until he is beaten for his title. Anything less is a smudge on the legitimacy of the championship.

Well I think the writing is on the wall for Cruz anyways. When he does come back I don't think he beats renan barao anyways.

honestly 2 years off and major fucking knee problems and multiple surgeries... yea. If i were him i would not want to have to come back to a title shot against a guy like barao. He should probably be stripped of the belt, not that it is his fault in any way, but he has to come to terms with reality. His knee complications are really serious, most guys would be lucky to come back from this at all.

I think 18 mo due to injury is a good benchmark for stripping titles.

Even though it's a long time I still think it's incredibly harsh to strip a champion because of injury.

Ali* wrote:

Even though it's a long time I still think it's incredibly harsh to strip a champion because of injury.

So what's the limit? 2 years? 3? 5?

Shouldn't be about time. Should be about losing a fight in the cage or not being able to return at all. The only thing Cruz is trying to do is get healthy and return, it's not like he's old and retiring or going to do other things instead of fighting as soon as he is able to. Taking the belt is pointless since anyone considering someone other than Cruz to be the champ is a total noob, no point in stripping him unless he has no intention of returning, none.

freakzilla wrote:

Ali* wrote:

Even though it's a long time I still think it's incredibly harsh to strip a champion because of injury.

So what's the limit? 2 years? 3? 5?

Time shouldn't be the issue it's about whether the fighter will be able to come back healthy enough to defend the title IMO.

With the interim process being kept to a standard we didn't see in other divisions I don't see a problem in letting him keep the title until he comes back. It's not like Barao is shying away from other top contenders or anything in the meantime.

Quote :

"We had a great conversation with Dominick," White today told MMAjunkie.com while in New York City for UFC 159 media festivities. "He's good, and he's feeling healthy, and he's training again."

"He's going to keep his title, and when he comes back, he'll defend it," White said. "If he got hurt again, then we'd have to say (we're stripping you of the belt)."

http://www.mmajunkie.com/news/2013/04/barring-another-injury-ufc-champ-dominick-cruz-wont-be-stripped-of-title

Good. Only another fighter should take that title from him.

I agree, only a career threatening injury should warrant stripping a fighter IMO.

Like with Mir?

Mir shouldn't of been stripped since he intended on returning, though I consider his injury far more serious then Dominick's. He broke is femur in half along tearing through every ligament in his knee. That was 8 years ago. They learn and here we are with Cruz still the champion.

Yeah there was legitimate doubt about whether Mir would ever be able to walk right again, let alone compete in a sport that may involve someone twisting his knee around and kicking him in the leg.