Dominick Cruz wants to run things back with Henry Cejudo at UFC 306.
Cruz challenged Cejudo for the bantamweight title in May 2020, but lost by second-round TKO. He rebounded with back-to-back wins over Casey Kenney and Pedro Munhoz, before he suffered a knockout to Marlon Vera in August 2022.
The former bantamweight champion was linked to a fight with Jose Aldo May at UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro, but it fell through. Now, Cruz (24-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) sets his sights on a rematch with Cejudo (16-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) for Sept. 16 at Sphere in Las Vegas.
“There’s a Mexico Independence Day card coming up, and I lost a fight,” Cruz said on the Overdogs Podcast. “I look back at my loss and I lost it fair and square to Henry Cejudo, but I do believe he could get a better version of me and really face a better version of me.
“I’ve had rematches against (Joseph) Benavidez. I’ve had rematches against Urijah Faber. I’ve had rematches against that whole Team Alpha Male where I had to take each guy out, step by step, in order to keep my title. So, I would love a rematch with Henry Cejudo on Mexican Independence Day in the Sphere. I think we could make a pretty awesome fight there.”
Meanwhile, Cejudo retired after he finished Cruz to retain his 135-pound title at UFC 249. He returned three years later to challenge Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight title at UFC 288 but was edged out in a split decision loss. He then lost a unanimous decision to No. 1 contender Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 298. “Triple C” recently called out Rob Font, but is yet to be booked for a fight.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 306.
Dominick Cruz calls for Henry Cejudo rematch at Sphere: ‘He could get a better version of me’