New followers of the mixed martial arts would not be familiar of "The Dominator." The return of Dominick Cruz might just refresh our memories and introduce what fighting until the last drop of sweat is all about.

The former bantamweight champion, Cruz (19-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) is hoping for a successful return to the Octagon as he battles Takeya Mizugaki (20-7-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) in one of the preliminary fights of UFC 178 at Las Vegas' MGM Grand Arena, Saturday.

The man once dubbed "The Dominator" will be testing his body's recovery as he fights for the first time after a long layoff of three years. Once regarded as one of the top pound for pound fighters in the mixed martial arts world, Cruz has been sidelined by a complicated ACL injury that many believed was career ending. During his absence, several bantamweights have already come and go namely George's St. Pierre and Anderson Silva. The current king of the hill is Chris Weidman and Cruz will have to literally hurdle mountains to get back on top.

"I genuinely believe I'm a stronger person as a result of the things I've been through," he said per Telegraph UK. "The circumstances you go through, whether a blessing or a curse, are things you have to learn from. It's been my decision to make all these setbacks a blessing and for them to make me a stronger person."

He was at the apex of the career when he went down. After serving as one of the mentors in The Ultimate Fighter Show, he was supposed to fight the last of the trilogy with his longtime nemesis the California Kid, Urijah Faber but alas his knee gave out and he had to be sidelined for three excruciating years. He had surgery in July 2012 and was supposed to come back January of this year but a groin injury forced him to be shelved once again.

Now, as he enters the scene again albeit through an undercard, the 29-year-old is just hoping that his body will cooperative and let him reach his potential and cement his legacy as one of the best fighters ever. He relays that he has hit rock bottom in the past years and has learned a lot in the experience. During that time, he used his energy to help other up and coming fighters and do charitable work. Now, it is time for the fates to smile upon this gracious man.