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Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bantamweight champion, Dominick Cruz, has not seen the inside of the Octagon in over three years and lost a good chunk of his athletic prime batting debilitating injuries (like this).
That said, “Dominator” is still considered one of the best 135-pound fighters in the sport and at age 34, refuses to give up on his quest to regain the division title. That would require a championship showdown against Henry Cejudo later this year.
“He’s the titleholder, he’s got an Olympic title and thinks he’s a ’25-pound and ’35-pound champion,” Cruz told Food Truck Diaries (transcribed by Farah Hannoun). “That’s the guy to beat, and he wants to say that he’s the GOAT; you’ve got to beat me, bro. It’s plain, simple, period.”
Cejudo, 32, has been calling himself the greatest of all time, among other things, but hasn’t gotten much support from the promotion on that front. It also doesn’t help that “Triple C” is calling out former champions on two-fight losing streaks.
“We’re both coming off shoulder surgery, we’re both from Arizona, we were both on the same national wrestling team,” Cruz continued. “I know his style. I know everything about him, I know his background. I know how he grew up. Realistically, fighting me makes you the best in the division if you can beat me, but I think you know the truth; that’s why you’re going towards an Aldo that lost to Moraes, who you beat.”
Like Cruz, Cejudo is also coming off shoulder surgery, which kept him out of action for the second half of 2019. During that time off, the promotion asked him to resign from his post at 125 pounds and now it looks as if Cruz wants to finish the job.
He may need to get in line.