Dominick Cruz is back for one last hurrah.

The former two-time UFC bantamweight champion and all-time great hasn't fought since an August 2022 third-round knockout loss to Marlon "Chito" Vera. Cruz, 39, is ready to wipe away the stain of defeat in pursuit of his 25th MMA win when he returns at UFC Seattle against Rob Font on Feb. 18.

Cruz's days in the Octagon were speculated to be over during this latest hiatus, as he focused on his career as a UFC color commentator rather than his work inside the cage. But Cruz confirmed Monday on Uncrowned's "The Ariel Helwani Show" that his showdown against the No. 9-ranked bantamweight contender Font is indeed going to be his retirement bout.

"The body just isn't the same anymore," Cruz said. "When you've got to start training differently because the body isn't doing what you need it to, then you're subsidizing, right? You're taking away something here and there. So I don't want that to be the case.

"I think if I just keep going and going, I could end up in a space where I can't lift my arm. I don't know if anybody's seen (former UFC bantamweight champion) TJ Dillashaw recently — he can't even lift his arm this high. I've had multiple shoulder surgeries. Those are the things I've been building over this time that I've been off — rebuilding the body for this fight to come back and make sure that I can make it through a camp in one piece. That's always the tough part because I train extremely hard.

"I think that was the issue with Cain Velasquez," he continued. "I think, personally, that was the issue with Khabib [Nurmagomedov]. A lot of the best athletes in the world, the reason we get hurt is we train harder than anybody. I think those two people I named were some of the hardest-training athletes in the history of the sport, period, ever. I think that's why they had a lot of injuries.

"I think that's also why I've had a lot of injuries. It's just the interpretation, it's not a fact. But from my experience, when I watch champions really train — Alexander Gustafsson comes to mind as well — some of the hardest training athletes on Earth, and a lot of times, we're the ones with the most injuries. As those have added up, I don't want that to be a reason that I don't look as good as I could on fight night."

The story of Cruz's career can't be told without his relentless injury adversity.

Cruz most notably saw his first UFC title reign halted between 2012 and 2014 due to a pair of ACL tears followed by a groin tear. His magical return in late 2014 resulted in a 61-second starching of Takeya Mizugaki in a non-title fight before then suffering a third ACL tear.

Shoulder issues have hindered Cruz in the later stages of his career, and despite believing he could compete for longer in MMA, he is concerned about the quality of life he hopes to have going forward.

"I just knew I probably could do three or four more [fights], but I don't know what the state of my shoulder would look like after that," Cruz said. "Whereas, if I do this one, I still have an arm — I still can throw a baseball, I can still live life. I can go snowboarding if I want, I can climb a ladder. Basics. I want to be able to have my life and my body when this is said and done and not just be in shambles with no arms, no legs, no back, no neck. I don't want to be that way."

Font provides a new challenger for Cruz's swan song. Although the 37-year-old Font made his professional MMA debut at the height of Cruz's first UFC title reign in 2011, he's amassed a broader career of fights (29) and maintained a spot in the UFC's top 10 for the better part of the past decade.

Cruz respects his upcoming opponent and is excited for the challenge, but Font wasn't his first choice.

Among the four losses in his 28-fight MMA career, Cruz has avenged one, having defeated Urijah Faber twice in subsequent outings. Few people were clamoring for a Vera rematch, but Henry Cejudo and Cody Garbrandt were prime candidates for Cruz to ride off into the sunset with a shot at redemption.

Ultimately, Cruz's top target, Cejudo, instead headlines UFC Seattle in a matchup against Song Yadong.

"I would have rather had a rematch, to be honest, with somebody that I have history and a story with like Henry," Cruz said. "I believe that was a really good fight to have. But on one end, you got [UFC matchmaker] Sean Shelby saying, 'Henry won't take it.' And then when you talk to [Cejudo's manager] Ali [Abdelaziz], you got Ali saying, 'Oh, Shelby didn't want to make it. They like to put old guys with old guys. You know how it is, Dom.'

"So you start hearing two sides of the story from both guys, and you never hear from the fighter themselves. After a while, you just got to take the opportunities that are given.

"That's what the UFC offered me, so I took it," he continued. "I mean, UFC isn't going to try to give me some kind of 'because they like me' fight or something. I don't think that exists for very many people. Unless you're Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey, Jon Jones, where you bring in a certain amount of eyes, I think then they'll work with you. But other than that, you just kind of get thrown to the wolves in the UFC."

Cruz is no stranger to a five-round war, having competed in 11 bouts scheduled as title tilts or main events. For his retirement bout, however, he will have just three rounds to play with.

What could be interpreted as a slap in the face to the legend is actually more of a courtesy. Logistically, Cruz has no problem with being the co-main event, considering all factors.

"I'm not fighting for a title, so I don't get paid more for that kind of work and the extra two rounds," Cruz said of UFC Seattle. "You get $25,000 more [to headline]. If you think about it, I'm getting a certain amount of money for three rounds, and then they're going to add 10 minutes, which is more than half the fight extra, and they're only going to give me, basically, $10,000 a round for that. That doesn't add up right to me.

"If I'm in a main event, if I'm going to run the whole card and promote it and be the man and have to do all this stuff, hopefully, I can get paid more for that — but I won't. So I'll take the co-main event slot. I'll fight three rounds. I make the same amount of money whether I'm on the prelims or whether I'm the main event. They don't pay me more for that other than $25,000 more to be a main event. So if you get $25,000 more for 10 minutes more of a fight — and to me, $25,000 isn't worth a 10-minute fight. Like if you said right now, 'Fight Rob Font for two rounds for $25,000,' I'd tell you 'No, I'm good.'

"It just didn't work that way for me. I've just been in sport too long. I know how it works. I'm getting paid for the time and the energy I put in the camp, and a five-round camp versus a three-round camp is like a 40-hour work week versus an 80-hour work week. It's two completely different things on the body."

Regardless of physical wear-and-tear and losses, Cruz has remained competitive to overcome any odds against him. Whether in training or his performances, Cruz has always had an applaudable fight IQ.

So if he looks excellent in a potential victory against Font, would he keep fighting after that?

It would be difficult not to consider, Cruz admitted, but he maintained that he'll continue with a smart approach rather than make reactive decisions. He just knows the end is in sight.

"Think about you're on a run," Cruz said. "Do you ever get to the end of the run and think, 'OK, let's pick it up, we're almost done. There's light at the end of the tunnel. Sprint.' And then you get to the end and you've got nothing left because you sprinted?

"That's what I'm looking at. Sprint it out, sprint it out. Go hard, don't stop there. This isn't, 'lighten up because you're at the end.' This is, 'pick it up because you're at the end.'"