Dominick Cruz’s latest comeback attempt is underway.
The former UFC bantamweight champion is set to return against Takeya Mizugaki at UFC 178 on Sept. 27 in Las Vegas, the UFC announced.
Cruz (19-1) hasn’t fought since Oct. 1, 2011 when he won a unanimous decision over Demetrious Johnson, the current flyweight champ who competed in the 135-pound division at the time.
Since that fight, the 28-year-old has gone through perhaps the most unfortunate rash of injuries in UFC history. In 2012, Cruz tore his ACL during a coaching stint on The Ultimate Fighter Live opposite rival Urijah Faber, but one surgery wasn’t enough to repair the damage. After his body initially rejected the new ligament, which was taken from a cadaver, he required a second surgery that kept him on the shelf for the duration of 2013.
Once his knee finally healed, he was scheduled to return at UFC 169 for a title unification bout with then-interim champ Renan Barao, but another lower-body injury forced him out of that fight as well. In January, Cruz vacated his title and the interim tag was removed from Barao’s belt, which is now T.J. Dillashaw’s belt.
The injury that forced Cruz off UFC 169 was first reported as a groin injury, but it turned out to be much worse than that.
“I tore my quad off my bone in the groin area,” Cruz told UFC Central Radio in May. “When you tear something like that, every muscle group in that area shuts off so that you don’t injure more muscle groups.”
Cruz said he had been working on getting his kicking game back to par and then he’d be ready to return.
Mizugaki (20-7-2) has won five consecutive fights in the UFC including victories over Erik Perez, Bryan Caraway and Francisco Rivera.
The Sept. 27 event is scheduled to be headlined by a light-heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson.
