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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Farah Hannoun

Dominick Cruz calls for Henry Cejudo rematch at Sphere: ‘He could get a better version of me’

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.

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