Dominick Cruz isn’t a fan of Henry Cejudo seeking higher-ranked opposition after pulling out of a fight.
Cejudo (16-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) was set to take on Marlon Vera at UFC 292 on Aug. 19 in Boston, but withdrew from the bout due to a shoulder injury. Vera will now face Pedro Munhoz instead.
The former UFC dual champion doesn’t appear keen on rebooking a matchup with Vera. Instead, Cejudo wants top-ranked contender Merab Dvalishvili, which Cruz finds laughable.
“I would say everything made sense about that except that Henry said, ‘Yeah, but I’d like Petr Yan or so and so after,'” Cruz said on The Schaub Show. “He had that whole statement about this and that, but then you give us two opponents that are ranked higher than Vera, which tells me that you didn’t want somebody ranked where Vera was at.
“That’s where he tells his truth, is the thing. It’s like, ‘My shoulder hurts too much for Vera, but if we can get Aljamain Sterling or Petr Yan, my shoulder doesn’t hurt as bad. We can make this work. I can make this work.'”
Two-time UFC bantamweight champion Cruz has fought down the ladder on multiple occasions, defeating Casey Kenney and Munhoz back-to-back, before getting knocked out by Vera last August.
So Cruz says if he can fight lower-ranked opposition, then Cejudo should be able to, as well.
“The way I see Henry is, some fights are worth it for his shoulder and some aren’t,” Cruz said. “So how do you decide that? How do you decide who’s good enough for you and who isn’t? Well, it’s up to the UFC to make those choices. I got the same fight offer he did, and I took the Casey Kenney fight earlier than that, and then I took the Pedro Munhoz fight earlier than that – both on the undercards, by the way, not on a main card that they’re trying to put him on.
“Then I take the fight with Vera. Look, we can’t even get this guy to take one. He’s been out this whole time, he gets a title shot. And now then after that, after the title shot, they didn’t drop him to the bottom of the line.”
