One thousand, five hundred and sixty-nine days. It looks so much worse when spelled out. If all sticks according to plan, and T.J. Dillashaw at last gets the opponent he deserves on Jan. 17 at UFC Fight Night 81, that's how long Dominick Cruz will have waited between brushes with gold. One thousand, five hundred and sixty-nine days of bad news, of announcements and postponements and Twitter updates that'll break your damn heart all over again.
Cruz can admit now that there were times when he questioned, maybe not that this day would come, but whether he'd be intact enough to take advantage once it did.