Dominick Cruz is eyeing a potential return to the octagon as early as August.
The former WEC and UFC bantamweight champion, who has been on a forced hiatus due to several ACL injuries, believes he could be ready to return to the octagon by UFC 177 on August 30.
Cruz's coach Eric Del Fierro informed UFC Tonight's Ariel Helwani that "The Dominator" would be ready by August, but a September return would be even better. He also mentioned that the team is interested in a potential match-up with Takeya Mizugaki because it would serve as a way for Cruz to reestablish himself in the bantamweight division.
An interesting date for this fight would be the UFC's return to Saitama in September, which would coincide with Cruz's preferred return date, and is also in Mizugaki's homecountry. Whether the UFC choses to save Cruz's return for a PPV fight card, like UFC 178 a few weeks later, is also debatable.