Henry Cejudo is willing to battle it out against Dominick Cruz for his swansong. Cruz, the former bantamweight champion has said recently that he wants to hang it up but is looking for ‘one last dance’, and is in the market for a suitable opponent to go out with a bang. And who better than another former champion in ‘Triple C’, with whom he feels he has unfinished business?

After all, Cruz feels he was hard done by referee, Keith Peterson in the Cejudo fight since their bout at UFC 249 was termed as an early stoppage by many in the MMA community, including ‘The Dominator’ himself. And now, Cejudo has thrown his name in the hat, claiming he needs a ‘tune-up fight’ anyway.

“Dominick snooze. The only thing I remember about Dominick Cruz was when I put that f***ing knee on top of his f***ing dome… And then he woke up he was talking about needing some alcohol and cigarettes and starts blaming the referee when he had 13 unanswered shots. I actually like that fight. If the UFC wants to make it let’s make it happen,” ‘Triple C’ told Kamaru Usman on their ‘Pound 4 Pound’ podcast.

Cruz, of course, will always be known to have one of the most deflated careers in all of MMA, despite being considered the consensus 135lbs GOAT. He was well on his way to becoming an all-time great after becoming champ in 2010, only for recurring injuries to derail his stellar career, keeping him out of action for almost three years between late 2011-14, and then again between 2017-20. ‘The Dominator’ lost his title to Cody Garbrandt in a shocking turn of events back in 2016 and then returned after injury three years later to try and recapture the title against Cejudo in 2020.

However, that of course, didn’t pan out as he wanted. Cruz has been pretty inactive since his 2020 comeback and has only fought twice since then. An integral of the UFC commentary team, he is now looking to move on from his fighting career for good. And Cejudo seems like the perfect last opponent for him.

Why a Henry Cejudo vs. Dominick Cruz clash is so interesting

Henry Cejudo’s recent career eerily parallels Cruz’s post-2020 career. After all, ‘Triple C’, too, came back after a three-year break in 2023 to try and recapture his title. Only for him to fall short against then-bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288.

While Cruz managed to win one of his fights since his comeback, Cejudo is 0-2 since 2023. The Olympic gold medallist lost his #1 title contender bout to current champ Merab Dvalishvili earlier this year. But to be fair, did manage to knock down ‘The Machine’ in the first round and went all three rounds with him.

This is why Cejudo is such a goon potential opponent for Cruz as he approaches retirement. Not only do they have unfinished business and are former champions, but ‘Triple C’ is very much still a top contender, who could fight for the title yet again in the not-too-distant future.

And a rematch between the two men will be a potentially electric one- both men have something to prove, can still fight, are on similar trajectories, and do not like each other. What more could fans ask for? What do you think about Cejudo’s thoughts on a possible Dominick Cruz fight?