Dominick Cruz fought just one time from from late 2011 to early 2016, and he thinks that’s a reason no one really cared about his division during that time.

After some injuries forced him to the sidelines and ultimately prompted UFC officials to strip him of the bantamweight belt, Cruz made a long-awaited return to the cage and picked up where he left off by dethroning T.J. Dillashaw by split decision in January.

Up next for Cruz (21-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC) is a trilogy fight and UFC 199 pay-per-view co-headliner with Urijah Faber (33-8 MMA, 9-4 UFC). Cruz, who’s No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA bantamweight rankings, and No. 5 Faber fight June 4 at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif.

Cruz looks for his first title defense since reclaiming the belt, and Faber, a former longtime WEC titleholder, hopes to secure an elusive UFC belt – one he’s failed to win despite three attempts in the past five years.

Cruz, who recently told MMAjunkie he expects the bantamweights to take over in the next couple years, said past champs Renan Barao and Dillashaw didn’t give the weight class the spotlight it deserved while he was out and recovering from injuries.

“I mean, when I didn’t have the belt and I was out, who was talking about the 135-pound division?” Cruz said. “You couldn’t even name the top five in the division. And they kept doing rematches with Renan Barao, who got beat up Dillashaw.

“They kept doing rematches because they had nothing else to sell, nothing else to go with.”

Faber, though, suggested Cruz shouldn’t get a pass.

“He was out for two years, and he had one fight, and he was out for another two years,” he said. “It’s kind of hard to keep a division going when you have guys sitting out.

“I’ve had to fight multiple guys in the division he’s never even faced.”

Check out the full conversation, which includes some info about a years-long text battle between the longtime rivals, above.

And for more on UFC 199, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.