JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Urijah Faber thinks the fight between Dominick Cruz and Henry Cejudo may have been stopped too early.
Cruz was stopped late in Round 2 of his bantamweight championship fight with champion Cejudo at UFC 249 after eating a knee and several unanswered punches.
He protested the stoppage and fired heavy accusations toward referee Keith Peterson, claiming that the official smelled of alcohol and cigarettes.
Speaking to reporters, including MMA Junkie, at UFC on ESPN 8 the following weekend, Faber admitted that he sided with his former foe, saying that Cruz should have been given more of a fighting chance, especially considering that it was a title fight.
“The referees are in there to do their jobs and save guys from taking too much damage,” he said. “But, at the end of the day, especially in world championship fights when you’re dealing with guys that are future Hall of Famers and multiple-time world champions, we want to remove all doubt. We want to know like I had no more chance so I feel for him on that.
“I feel like he still could have had a chance and that’s always the part that irks you, so I can understand his frustration. I doubt Keith Peterson was drunk. He might have been sweating some alcohol and definitely smelling like cigarettes but I don’t think he was drunk. He was just trying to look out for Dom.”
After an almost decade-long rivalry that ended 2-1 in Cruz’s favor after their trilogy bout in 2016, the Faber and Cruz have since buried the hatchet.