The UFC bantamweight division will continue to have two champions for a long time. The North American Dominick Cruz, who is the current owner of the belt, had a complication with a serious knee injury and is not expected to return to the octagon until the end of the first half of 2013. As a result, the Brazilian Renan Barao, who is the interim champion of the division, should fight until the titles are unified.
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Cruz, who had undergone knee surgery in June with an anterior cruciate ligament implant, had to undergo another operation as his body rejected the tissue that was taken from a cadaver. In the new surgical process, Dominick also had his middle cruciate ligament replaced, which had been injured since 2008. The American is expected to return to the Octagon in six to nine months.
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the last fight of Dominick Cruz was in October last year, when he retained the bantamweight belt against Demetrious Johnson. After that, he was scheduled to defend the title against Urijah faber at UFC 149, in July this year, but he injured himself during training and was replaced by the native of Rio de Janeiro Renan Barao. Considering the long time that Cruz would be inactive, the UFC created the interim belt in the category, which Barão won by beating Faber in a unanimous decision by the judges.
With Cruz's further surgery, expectations are growing that the Brazilian will defend the interim title, probably against Canadian Michael McDonald.
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