Former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz opened up about the measures he took to compete and secure his biggest payday in the sport.
During an appearance on Jorge Masvidal’s podcast, Cruz revealed he had to inject the bottom of his feet with Botox just to be able to walk and train for what would become his only opportunity to earn $1 million in the UFC.
The revelation came while discussing his 2016 title defense against Cody Garbrandt at UFC 207, which served as the co-main event under Ronda Rousey’s highly anticipated return match. Cruz explained that after returning from a three-and-a-half-year layoff due to injuries, he pushed his body through three championship matches in one calendar year, which took a severe toll.
“By the time I got to the third match of the year, my shoulder was torn. Both my feet had plantar fasciitis. I had to inject the bottom of my feet with Botox just to be able to walk to get ready,” Cruz stated.
He emphasized that while his body was compromised, he couldn’t turn down the opportunity because it was his only chance to compete on a card with massive pay-per-view potential.
Cruz clarified the unique financial structure that made this fight so critical. “For the people at home, in order to get a real opportunity to make money, you have to defend the title. You can’t be competing for it. Then you don’t get pay-per-view points,” he explained.
This meant that despite winning the title from TJ Dillashaw and already defending it once against Urijah Faber, the Garbrandt matchup represented his sole opportunity to capitalize on pay-per-view revenue while holding championship status.
The decision became even more significant because Cruz had previously turned down a major payday when he withdrew from a co-main event spot on TUF finale featuring Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva after blowing out his knee.
“I’d rather win than lose to Faber. So I can’t go in there with a blown out knee just to collect the paycheck. So I gave up the money so I could heal and come back to win. I couldn’t do that twice,” Cruz said.
Being paired with Rousey’s return guaranteed exceptional pay-per-view numbers, making it impossible for Cruz to decline despite his physical condition. “I just knew I was going to go in there a little bit compromised, not 100 percent, but I was in good enough shape and my body was working good enough that I could tough it out for that level of money. It was worth the risk,” he admitted.
The extensive injuries affected his training camp significantly. “I couldn’t jump rope. I had to wear shoes the whole camp,” Cruz recalled. Despite these limitations, he went the full five rounds with Garbrandt, ultimately losing by unanimous decision but walking away with his biggest career payday.
Cruz made it clear he wasn’t making excuses, giving full credit to Garbrandt for his performance. “I’m just saying that you had certain things happen that are out of our control. It’s a truth that happened. It’s not an excuse,” he said.
He expressed pride in making it through the camp and compete given his physical state, noting that Garbrandt was young, healthy, and coming off two quick finishes that year.
