"I don't know what he was smoking" - Dominick Cruz criticizes judge following split decision victory at UFC 259
Dominick Cruz secured the thirteenth victory of his UFC career last Saturday. With a dominant victory over 29-year-old Casey Kenny, Cruz set the record for most wins in the bantamweight division in the promotion's history.
Despite putting up a dominant performance at UFC 259, Dominick Cruz was awarded a split decision victory following the 5-round war with Casey Kenny. Speaking with James Lynch from Fanatics View, 'The Dominator' expressed his exasperation with the judges' scorecards.
"I don't know how one of the judges gave the whole fight to him, I don't know what he was smoking. It's just that simple. I just don't see how you give him the whole fight. I get how you could maybe give him a round but not the whole fight. That doesn't make sense to me.
Two of the three judges scored the fight in favor of Dominick Cruz (30-27 and 29-28). However, one official ruled the fight in favor of Casey Kenny. Many media outlets and MMA analysts condemned the third judge's decision, as it was Dominick Cruz who out worked Kenny for the better part of three rounds.
Disparaging the officials scoring MMA fights, Dominick Cruz stated that judges lack an educated eye for deciding the victor of a fight.
It's scary when you leave it to the judges because you don't know what they're seeing. The judges don't really have an educated eye."
The UFC official that Dominick Cruz has an issue with
Dominick Cruz was not pleased when UFC referee Keith Peterson stepped in to stop his fight against Henry Cejudo in the second round at UFC 249. Cruz is of the notion that it was an early stoppage and even went on to accuse Peterson of smelling like 'alcohol and cigarettes' inside the cage.
For his fight with Casey Kenny at UFC 259, Dominick Cruz made a special request to Marc Ratner to make sure he arranged any referee other than Keith Peterson.
Cruz's request was acknowledged and Jason Herzog was appointed to officiate the match between the two combatants.
“(UFC vice president of regulatory affairs) Marc Ratner alluded he was able to make that possible for me,” Cruz said. “It’s not that I hate this guy or anything. This is a business thing, and I did not feel like he was doing his best. There are plenty of refs. I’ve never had an issue with any other ref in the history of my career – before the fight started. I had an issue with him before the fight started in the locker room. So that’s what made me stand by the fact that I’d prefer another ref”, said Dominick Cruz (quotes courtesy of MMA junkie).