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Henry Cejudo says he would’ve been livid if Dominick Cruz pulled out of their fight next weekend.
Fortunately for Cejudo, the former two-division champion wasn’t scheduled to face Cruz at UFC Seattle and will instead meet Song Yadong in the main event. Cruz, a former foe of his from 2020, had been set for his final fight in the co-headliner against Rob Font – one he was forced to withdraw from.
Cruz blamed the cancellation on a shoulder injury, later announcing his MMA retirement at 39 years old, never to fight again.
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If you know the two-time champ, you know Cruz’s career has been doused with multiple injuries and surgeries over the years, most notably two ACL tears between title reigns.
“I would’ve been so f*****g p***ed dude if they would’ve set me and Dominick Cruz up and next, this dude’s pulling out,” Cejudo said on Pound 4 Pound Podcast. “Dominick Cruz, I don’t think he really understood how to train. I don’t really understand that he really knew how to really take care of his body, ’cause he was injured the majority of his career. “
“I’m talking about years upon years, he was probably more injured than the years that he actually fought.”
While on the UFC roster, Cruz was inactive through the following years: 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023, 2024, 2025.
Cruz returned from a four-year layoff in 2020 to an immediate title fight with then-champ Cejudo. This would be Cejudo’s retirement fight (at the time), TKO’ing rival Cruz in the second round.
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“I thought we squashed the beef when I put that knee upside of his damn head. But that being said, I will say something nice about him,” Cejudo continued. “He did a lot for the bantamweight division and particularly the lower weight divisions. I gotta give him credit for that… he was able to get victories from some of the biggest names. You gotta put Dominick Cruz up there. A lot of people will say he is the greatest bantamweight champion of all time.”
With one more injury for the road and Cruz’s last dance cancelled…
“It’s unfortunate ’cause nobody wants to say, ‘Oh, I retired because of injuries’…He never really figured it out,” Cejudo said of Cruz. “Dominick has done a lot, dude for the sport he’s a good analyst. I’m not gonna say great. We had our rivalry and I put my knee in his face and I wish I would’ve retired him, but apparently I didn’t. But congratulations, ‘Dominick Snooze.'”
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