Bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo says he wants to fight Dominick Cruz if his bout with Jose Aldo is impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent travel bans.
At the moment, Cejudo is set to face former featherweight champion Aldo in the UFC 250 main event. The fight is due to take place on May 9 at Ginásio do Ibirapuera in São Paulo, Brazil. A travel ban in Brazil is due to come into place very soon. The UFC has already asked Jessica Andrade to travel to Las Vegas in order to make her fight with Rose Namajunas at UFC 249.
‘Triple C’ thinks UFC 250 may be relocated to the United States sooner rather than later. If it is, he wants to have a back-up opponent in case Aldo struggles to get into the country. Hence his call-out of Cruz who has been looking for a comeback fight for some time now.
The bantamweight great hasn’t fought since losing his title to Cody Garbrandt in December 2016, his career marred by persistent injuries. He was briefly believed to be fighting rising star Cory Sandhagen at UFC San Diego however that fight fell through pretty quickly.
Speaking on Twitter Cejudo expressed his worries about getting Aldo into the country ahead of UFC 250 and called on Cruz to act as back-up, he said.
“Since #UFC249 is in jeopardy because we can’t get Khabib out of Russia. So Just in case we can’t get Jose Baldo into America soil, make sure to bring your untailored tuxedo that you wear every Saturday long with yours balls! Because you’re on deck sweetheart. @DominickCruz”
Cejudo hasn’t fought since winning the vacant 135lb belt in June 2019. The former flyweight champion captured the title by stopping Marlon Moraes inside three rounds at UFC 238.
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