Former two-time UFC men’s bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz is no longer ranked in the Top 15.

Cruz was replaced in the ranking published on November 5 by one of UFC Edmonton’s big winners, Aiemann Zahabi, who debuted at No. 14 following his unanimous decision win over Pedro Munhoz.

Cruz has not fought since losing to Marlon Vera via KO in August 2022. Many would argue that Cruz’s exit from the Top 15 should have happened at least six months ago when his inactivity reached 18 months.

Cruz has explored fights with fellow legend Jose Aldo in recent months, but nothing has materialized. Aldo has been active since his retirement. He even won a new contract with the UFC despite being 38 years old.

Over the past two years, Cruz has established himself as a lead analyst for UFC events, often working on UFC Fight Nights and select pay-per-view shows. Cruz turns 40 in March, so his days as a serious title contender are likely over.

Given his level of inactivity and his age, we may be nearing the end of his career and we could possibly see him participating in a retirement fight.

Cruz was the first official UFC bantamweight champion during his career. When the promotion purchased World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) and absorbed its roster, it inherited a group of very talented fighters who would largely shape the UFC in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

Donald Cerrone, Anthony Pettis, Aldo, Urijah Faber, Mike Brown, Benson Henderson, Brian Bowles, Leonard Garcia, Carlos Condit, Chael Sonnen and Cruz.

When the merger happened, Cruz was the WEC bantamweight champion, so he became the UFC’s first titleholder.

Cruz immediately solidified his title distinction by scoring a victory over bitter rival Faber in the first title defense at a UFC event. Cruz’s victory avenged the only defeat of his career to that point, a submission loss to Faber in 2007.

Cruz would defend the UFC title again by defeating Demetrious Johnson in October 2011. Injuries began to derail Cruz’s career after this fight. Knee injuries kept him out until September 2014, when Cruz returned with a resounding first-round TKO victory over Takeya Mizugaki.

Despite another 15-month layoff, Cruz earned a title shot against TJ Dillashaw and became a double champion by defeating another rival via split decision. Cruz would again defeat Faber to win their career series, thus defending the title before losing his title by unanimous decision to Cody Garbrandt in December 2016.

Injuries kept Cruz out another 3.5 years before returning and receiving another shot at the bantamweight title. Then-champion Henry Cejudo stopped Cruz in the second round in May 2020. In 2021, Cruz went on a two-fight winning streak with victories over Casey Kenney and Munhoz, but Vera’s stoppage victory against him in 2022 marked the last time we saw Cruz in the Octagon.

Despite injuries, Cruz has faced a who’s who in his weight class, having fought almost every fighter who has held the bantamweight title from 2009 to 2020. His current MMA record is an impressive 24-4. When he’s done fighting, Cruz will have a place in the Hall of Fame.