It's been over two years since Dominick Cruz last stepped foot inside a UFC cage. He beat Demetrious Johnson for his 2nd successful bantamweight title defense in the UFC and 4th overall dating back to the WEC. Multiple knee injuries set him back, and while there were calls for him to be stripped of his belt, he still has it. During Cruz's absence, the UFC created an interim title that was not only won by Renan Barao, but he was able to defend it twice in the past year. Those belts will be unified on February 1st in New Jersey in the 2nd of 2 title fights on the evening. Featherweight champion Jose Aldo fights Ricardo Lamas in the co-main event, and it's the 2nd fight in a row where Aldo's opponent will have been more than a year removed from his most recent bout.
Also on this show are the regularly concussed heavyweights Frank Mir against Alistair Overeem, a fight which seems totally out of place on a main card where all of the other fights are no heavier than lightweight.
Here's the full fight lineup for UFC 169, which also has some prelims on UFC Fight Pass that should be available as part of the ongoing free trial:
Main Card (PPV)
Dominick Cruz vs. Renan Barao
Jose Aldo vs. Ricardo Lamas
Frank Mir vs. Alistair Overeem
John Lineker vs. Ali Bagautinov
Abel Trujillo vs. Bobby Green
Preliminary Card (FS1)
John Makdessi vs. Alan Patrick
Chris Cariaso vs. Kyoji Horiguchi
Nick Catone vs. Tom Watson
Al Iaquinta vs. Kevin Lee
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Clint Hester vs. Andy Enz
Tony Martin vs. Rashid Magomedov
Neil Magny vs. Gasan Umalatov