Dominick Cruz is to face Henry Cejudo for the Bantamweight UFC title soon
One of the surprise clashes for the 9 May UFC event sees Dominick Cruz battle Henry Cejudo for the Bantamweight title.
Cejudo was to face Jose Aldo initially but plans changed with Cruz coming into the frame. The problem with this was Cruz’s absence from the UFC.
The former Bantamweight champion last fought in 2016. That was a loss at the hands of Cody Garbrandt, and it is a surprise he hasn’t been seen in action since.
Ring rust is something that Chael Sonnen also spoke about recently, however, he believed that Cruz wouldn’t be hurt by his three-year absence from the UFC:
“You’re now questioning a guy who’s already done something worse which was three and a half three and a half.
“Three and half years out, comes back, goes on the street and grabs the championship of the world.”
Sonnen was referring to several ACL injuries that Cruz had to deal with. He came back to the UFC in 2014, beat Takeya Mizukagi and then won the Bantamweight title from TJ Dillashaw.
However, he lost that to Garbrandt and had been out of action since.
A rivalry heating up
Cejudo is not one to mince his words and has had a go at Cruz recently. The challenger has done the same, and it will be interesting to see how the fight goes.
Sonnen did believe that ring rust was possible for Cruz, but the challenger has been absent from the Octagon in the past too.
Cejudo, for his part, is unbeaten in his UFC career and is possibly one of the best fighters from this generation.
Cejudo is also a former Olympic Gold medallist and has made the transition into the world of MMA seamlessly.
However, Cruz will be a tough opponent for Cejudo and it will be a real test of the champ’s abilities on 9 May.
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