Dominick Cruz is apoplectic over UFC 249 stoppage loss and said the referee smelled of 'alcohol and cigarettes'
- Henry Cejudo bested Dominick Cruz inside two rounds at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Florida, defending his UFC bantamweight title in style.
- Cejudo finished Cruz with a knee strike, reminded everybody about his accomplishments in MMA and freestyle wrestling, then retired from the sport forever. "I want to leave on top," he said.
- But Cruz's comments after the bout overshadowed Cejudo's swansong and shock announcement.
- The defeated Californian said the referee's stoppage in the second round was too early, and alluded to the fact the decision may have been clouded because he smelled of "alcohol and cigarettes."
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Dominick Cruz is apoplectic over his UFC 249 stoppage loss Saturday, and blamed a referee who he said smelled of "alcohol and cigarettes."
Cruz's bantamweight bout against the UFC champion Henry Cejudo at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville ended a four-year absence from the Octagon — a period plagued by injury problems.
Even before his 2016 defeat to Cody Garbrandt at UFC 199, in which he lost his UFC bantamweight title, Cruz had struggled to walk because of the foot injury, plantar fascia tendinitis. In the years since, he suffered a broken arm, an injured shoulder, and it was unclear whether the 35-year-old Californian would ever compete again.
Should he have beaten Cejudo on May 9, reclaiming the 135-pound title after reigning as the division's champion twice, it would have been as miraculous a comeback as Tiger Woods winning the US Masters at Augusta in 2019, his first major golf championship in 12 years.
But Cruz would write no fairy-tale, as Cejudo claimed a statement victory punctuated by a cracking knee strike in the second round, which helped bring an end to the contest.
"That was an early stoppage, 100 percent — I'm positive of it," Cruz said after the defeat, according to MMA Junkie. He wanted the right to have fought on rather than have the referee stop the bout on his behalf. "I wish there was a way to keep these refs a little more responsible sometimes."
Cruz then appeared to suggest Keith Peterson should have been drug tested. "The guy smelled like alcohol and cigarettes, so who knows what he was doing … I wish they drug tested them.
"I know [referee] Herb Dean is good. He's one of the best refs. Immediately when I saw that ref I was like, 'Man, is there a way to veto a ref and get a new one?' I wonder that."
Cruz said he felt like he was still competitive in the fight and didn't want to make excuses after being the one who put himself in the position where he was vulnerable to such a hard knee strike.
""If you put yourself in the position for the ref to mess something up in a stoppage, then you do so."
Cruz comments overshadow Cejudo's swansong
Cejudo, meanwhile, was jubilant with the result.
The 33-year-old is one of the most decorated athletes in all mixed martial arts because of his Olympic gold medal in freestyle wrestling, his other amateur wrestling gold medals, and two-weight champion status in UFC after winning belts at flyweight and bantamweight.
After victories over Demetrious Johnson, TJ Dillashaw, and Cruz, Cejudo he has beaten some of the biggest names in the lighter weight classes. He knows this, and told everybody what he felt it meant when it came to his legacy in his post-fight comments in the Octagon.
"I was pretty confident in the fact that I was going to get the victory, but even if I were to lose, I'd be like I'm done, I'm not going to the back of the line. Ultimately, I want to leave on top," Cejudo said, beginning his retirement statement.
"I think that's every fighter's dream, but nobody ever really does it. Georges St-Pierre doesn't have two belts like me. He retired, but he didn't have two belts, I do. All due respect to the legend.
"When you combined what I've done in the sports world in general, you've got to put out there as the greatest combat sports athlete of all time. Olympic champ, flyweight champ, and bantamweight champ, and I defended both titles."
He said: "I'm happy, I'm satisfied."
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