"Those are the two I'm looking at" - Dominick Cruz says he wants to avenge his losses to Marlon 'Chito' Vera and Henry Cejudo
Dominick Cruz wants to run it back with Marlon 'Chito' Vera as well as 'Triple C' Henry Cejudo.
The former multi-time UFC bantamweight champion was speaking on the Matan Even YouTube channel and addressed a myriad of subjects throughout Cruz's chat with the titular figure.
When show host Matan Evenoff was speaking about some of the recent contests 'The Dominator' has had, Cruz stated:
"That was my last fight [vs 'Chito' Vera]. That's why I would take a rematch with him [Vera], a rematch with Henry Cejudo. Those are the two that I'm looking at right now... I lost to those two guys."
Check out Dominick Cruz on discussing desired Henry Cejudo and Marlon Vera rematches at the 9:30 mark below:
Dominick Cruz: How the Henry Cejudo and Marlon Vera fights transpired
Dominick Cruz has faced some of the best bantamweights of multiple eras and things did not exactly go his way against these aforementioned fighters.
Cejudo competed against Cruz in what was a nearly three-and-a-half-year hiatus being out of competition for the latter. Cruz returned to the cage after losing his bantamweight belt to Cody Garbrandt at UFC 207 in the hopes of regaining gold against then 135-pound titleholder Cejudo.
This went down at UFC 249 and the showdown saw Cejudo secure a knockout over Cruz in the waning seconds of round two with a knee and follow-up punches. Cejudo announced his retirement after their May 2020 contest but has since returned to the cage in a pair of losses on points to Aljamain Sterling and Merab Dvalishvili.
The California native would go on to secure a pair of decision wins over Casey Kenney and Pedro Munhoz before Cruz then clashed with Marlon 'Chito' Vera.
Vera fought Cruz in the main event of an Aug. 13, 2022 UFC Fight Night and the bantamweight bout did encroach into those later rounds. Vera secured a highlight reel head kick knockout of Cruz a bit before the halfway mark of round four and it was one of the bigger statement wins in the career of the former.
Vera has since had a pair of decision losses to Cory Sandhagen and Sean O'Malley in a title bid to bookend a decision victory over Pedro Munhoz. Cruz has not competed since the Vera fight but has his eyes on getting back in the octagon sooner rather than later.