Dominick Cruz Believes Conor McGregor Will Definitely Return After Injury
Dominick Cruz is convinced Conor McGregor will fight again following his latest setback.
The former two-time UFC bantamweight champion shared his perspective during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show. Cruz drew from his own history of multiple ACL surgeries and lengthy recoveries while assessing McGregor’s situation.
McGregor’s highly anticipated return at UFC 329 on July 11 ended abruptly. He suffered a torn ACL and meniscus against Max Holloway and lost via TKO due to injury at 1:09 of the first round. The Irish star later confirmed the diagnosis and said he is already walking without crutches while targeting a comeback next summer.
Cruz sees clear parallels to his own career path.
“When I came back in between the three, I had the two surgeries, then I had the one fight for one minute, and then I came back and fought again,” Cruz explained. “Between the two ACL surgeries to the third one with one fight in between, I could see how he had the five years off and came back and was so amped up, and then didn’t get to do it, it’s kinda similar.”
He believes McGregor now possesses a valuable mental reference point from the brief camp and the night itself.
“I got to feel it, I went through the camp, I felt strong, I felt ready. He can use that to get through this next rehab session that he’s gonna do, and it’s not the worst one, like his knee.”
Cruz pointed to the extensive resources available to McGregor that were not present during earlier eras of the sport.
“There’s so many, there’s access to so many things I didn’t have now. He has the physical therapy at the performance institute, he has all the best doctors and money in the world.”
With those advantages, Cruz sees no barrier to a successful recovery.
“With all the access to the things he has, he absolutely can come back.”
The deeper reason, according to Cruz, is internal drive rather than external pressure or financial need.
“It took so much for me to not have martial arts that that’s why I think he came back. He’s got everything in the world everybody keeps saying, right? So why don’t you go back in, in the octagon? There’s only one logical reason to go in there and do that, and it’s when you have everything he has, and it’s because he needs it. I needed it. Why wouldn’t he? Why would he be different?”
Cruz described the unique obsession required at the highest level.
“It takes a certain obsession to be good at this, and my obsession was taken away from me, and his obsession, I think, was taken away, and then he was just let out to go be free. And man, we saw where that went for him. Apparently for him, it wasn’t working, so he wanted to get back to what did work for him.”
That shared experience leads Cruz to a firm conclusion.
“I can totally resonate with that, and I think that he definitely will be back. I really do, because of the injury and because he got that taste and that, that feeling of showing up, and everybody doubts him right now.”
He added that public reaction will only amplify interest.
“Everybody wants a comeback story, so no matter what anybody says, they’re gonna watch, because everybody loves a comeback story, and he’s entertaining. So the buildup to that will be great, but yeah, he’ll—I think he’ll definitely do it. I think that that feeling he had that night will resonate with him. He’s gonna hold onto it tight and get through, and use it to get through this rehab.”
McGregor remains one of the most marketable figures in combat sports despite the latest injury. His ability to draw attention and generate interest has never depended solely on winning streaks. Cruz’s assessment underscores the mental and practical factors that could fuel another chapter for the former two-division champion.
As McGregor begins the rehabilitation process with elite support, the focus shifts to whether he can convert that brief return experience into sustained motivation for a future fight.
