The curse of coaching on The Ultimate Fighter has struck again, this time striking down bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz.
Current TUF coach, Cruz has been forced out of his upcoming trilogy bout with chief rival and fellow TUF 15 coach Urijah Faber at UFC 148.
It was confirmed on Monday that the 26-year-old tore his ACL while training, and will be sidelined indefinitely. This is the fourth time in the last six seasons that the anticipated fight between opposing coaches has been scrapped or shelved in some manner.
Rivals Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson had their fight delayed when Jackson abruptly quit the UFC to star in the film adaptation of ‘80s TV show “The A-Team,” eventually returning to lose to Evans at UFC 114. The following season, Tito Ortiz was forced to withdraw from his third meeting with Chuck Liddell due to continued issues with his neck.
Liddell was furious when he heard the news on the show, which had been taped months in advance, and eventually lost to Ortiz’s replacement, Rich “Ace” Franklin, in the main event of UFC 115. It would be the final fight of Liddell’s impressive career.
Heavyweight superstar Brock Lesnar was next to fall to the coaching curse, as a reccurrence of his diverticulitis scratched him from a title eliminator bout with Junior dos Santos at UFC 131 following their time as coaches on Season 13 of the long-running reality TV program. Shane Carwin replaced Lesnar opposite dos Santos, who dominated Carwin over three rounds, setting up his title-winning encounter with Cain Velasquez in November 2011.
It’s unknown at this point whether Cruz will continue to coach throughout the rest of the season. Unlike previous years where the episodes have been taped and edited, this season of The Ultimate Fighter is running live, and with the teams about to enter the “playoff round,” it will be interesting to see if the UFC chooses to give Cruz’s fighters a new coaching staff to work with this late in the competition.
The other question emerging from this unfortunate injury is who will now face Faber at UFC 148 in July? Additionally, will it be for an interim title?
When welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre was felled by a similar injury in December, the UFC put together an interim title fight between top contenders Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz. Condit won a debated decision, and has since opted to wait for St-Pierre to recover rather than defend the interim title.
For what it’s worth, Faber said Monday that he would like to see an interim title introduced, and suggested that top contender Renan Barao be the one he faces for the newly created championship. A training partner of featherweight champion Jose Aldo, Barao is scheduled to face veteran Ivan Menjivar on the UFC 148 preliminary card, and is currently riding a 29-fight unbeaten streak, including posting three wins inside the Octagon.
Most experts – myself included – see Barao as the logical choice to replace Cruz. As mentioned, he’s already preparing to compete on the July 7 fight card in Las Vegas, and has established himself as the top contender in the division outside Faber.
Beyond the Brazilian, there are few options that make sense.
Surging 21-year-old phenom Michael McDonald’s name was the second one mentioned by most on Monday. Fresh off a first-round knockout win over former WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres, the California native has momentum on his side, but the UFC might not want to rush ‘Mayday’ into a title fight at this stage.
Though he’s very much viewed as a future champion, taking a fight against an established veteran like Faber on two months’ notice is a tough assignment. However, should Barao fill the void left by Cruz, calling up McDonald to take on Menjivar would seem to make sense.
Veterans Brian Bowles, Scott Jorgensen, and Brad Pickett could all be serviceable replacements in a pinch, though none has really done enough of late to merit a shot at an interim title. Bowles hasn’t fought since losing to Faber at UFC 139 in November, so he’s an unlikely choice, while Jorgensen dropped a one-sided decision to Barao in February.
Pickett is the only one of the three coming off a win, having defeated Damacio Page when the UFC made their maiden journey to Sweden last month. However, he’s just 2-2 in his last four fights, having dropped bouts to both Jorgensen and Barao in that time.
My money is on an interim title fight between Faber and Barao replacing the scuttled trilogy bout between the Ultimate Fighter: Live coaches. Faber is one of the most marketable and recognizable fighters in the UFC, and would be a solid draw as a champion, even an interim champion, while Barao is the most deserving of the opportunity.
Keep checking The Roar for further developments in this story.
E. Spencer Kyte is the author of Keyboard Kimura, the MMA blog of Vancouver’s leading newspaper, The Province. Follow him on Twitter (@spencerkyte), or Facebook.
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