• UFC London

White hopes Cruz won't have to retire

ESPN staff
February 13, 2013
UFC London: Pressing issues

NEW: ESPN Fantasy Fighter - enter now and you could win a range of fantastic UFC prizes.

UFC president Dana White expressed the serious scenario facing Dominick Cruz, admitting the bantamweight champion may have to retire if he suffers another bad injury.

Cruz is currently sidelined after he tore his anterior cruciate ligament last year. Since then Renan Barao has become interim champion and will fight Michael McDonald in London this weekend.

Cruz has not had much luck with injuries during his career, and White hopes he will be fit to return to action in the summer of 2013. However, that scenario is by no means a guarantee.

Asked by ESPN what the current situation is with Cruz, White confessed he hated to use the word "retirement", but explained that he would hate to see the champion risk his health even further if another serious setback was to occur.

"We expect him to come back," White said at Wednesday's press conference. "Everything is going as well as can be expected, and hopefully he comes back soon.

"If he starts training again and gets another injury that's going to take him out for a year, and I hate to even say this about the kid since he's a really good kid, but he should seriously probably look at retiring.

"But I'm not taking something like that from somebody. The way that it works in the fight business is you beat the man who beat the man. Obviously, though, if he had to retire, then [the interim champion] would automatically become the champion."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Close

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices