Dominick Cruz explains return fight against Rob Font, rips Henry Cejudo: ‘That dude runs from me like I’m the plague’

Dominick Cruz didn’t get his first choice of comeback opponent, but he’s happy nonetheless.

Next month, Cruz returns to action after when he faces Rob Font in the co-main event of UFC Seattle on Feb. 22. It’s Cruz’s first fight in 30 months and for the former bantamweight champion it’s an opportunity to finally get back to doing the thing he loves.

“I’ve been wanting to take a fight, but I did need to get my body in order,” Cruz told GoodGuy/Bad Guy. “It’s no secret I’ve had a lot of injuries in my career. So, I like to make sure I’m ready not and just take something when I’m hurt. I don’t need to fight that way anymore.

“In the past, when you’re champ, when you’re No. 1 contender, you’ve just got to stay in the line because people are going to take your spot. I’m already not in the top-five, so let’s say I fought three more, they’re still probably not going to give me a title shot. So I just take the fight when it comes and when it fits.

“I enjoy fighting. I’m from the era where you didn’t get paid a ton to fight, you just enjoyed fighting and that’s why you usually started. I enjoy fighting and I’m going to do one more.”

While fans will surely be happy to see Cruz back in the cage, the matchup is an unexpected on. Most thought that if Cruz would return it would be a long-awaited bout with Jose Aldo or perhaps a rematch with Henry Cejudo, but instead Font got the call. According to Cruz, Cejudo was his first choice but he gave up on that when it became clear that “Triple C” would not run things back with him.

“I don’t have any specific thing except the UFC asked me to take a fight on short notice. I’m trying to do them a favor, too,” Cruz said. “... But at the same time, I wanted the Henry fight, I wanted rematches. They weren’t going to give it to me. So, I’ve been training really hard in Mexico City and I’ve just been preparing my body to stay ready so I don’t have to get ready, and wait for the right opportunity. When the right opportunity gets asked of me, I can take it or I can’t. Well, they’re not giving me — Henry won’t take that fight. He just won’t. So they put him on the same card with me, which is funny to me. ...

“I don’t know why Henry wouldn’t rematch me, I really don’t. The only thing I could think of is I, with my words, really embarrassed him a lot and he probably doesn’t want to go through that again. That’s the only thing I could think of. But we’re going to fight at the end of it so I figured he might like that. ...

“I think that’s the only reason he didn’t want to take it, the talking, the banter. Because what else would there be? I’m one of the most well-known guys in the division, we have history, there’s a story there, we both come from Arizona. There’s a lot there, so the only thing I could think of was he didn’t want to deal with the talking, the banter.”

Cruz and Cejudo fought for the bantamweight title at UFC 249, with Cejudo winning via second round TKO. Following that bout, Cejudo retired from MMA, though he returned in 2023, losing his two bouts since coming back. Now, Cejudo faces Song Yadong in the main event of UFC Seattle, but Cruz doesn’t believe things will get heated between them on fight week.

“That dude runs from me like I’m the plague, trust me,” Cruz said. “He does not talk to me, he doesn’t want to look at me. If we’re going to just get in the octagon and fight, yes, he’ll do that, but all the stuff before that, he doesn’t want anything to do with me. ...

“He doesn’t have the mental acuity to communicate clearly and that’s just part of it. It stifles him because he’s cringy. And he’ll look even more cringy trying to talk with me. So it’s just better to put that to the side, let’s let Dominick fight somebody else, and to be honest, I like Rob Font. There’s a lot of respect I have for him as a human being, regardless of what he’s done in fighting, and I know how dangerous he is.”

While nothing is set in stone, Cruz is approaching this as if it will be his retirement fight, just over 20 years since his MMA debut. And as things stand right now, even a second shot at Cejudo won’t change the former champion’s mind.

“Henry can’t do anything,” Cruz said when asked if that would keep him from retiring. “If I want to embarrass Henry, I’ll do it right in his face right there before the fight or after the fight. I just need this fight because I want to prove against a good opponent — one of the best opponents in the world, he’s Top 10 — that I’m still that good, too. I’m here to challenge myself. It’s not hard to find Henry. I’m from Arizona. If I want to go to his fight gym and beat him up there I can show up there, too. What, are they going to tell me to get out? They’ll be happy to let us throw down.”

UFC Seattle takes place on Feb. 22 at Climate Pledge Arena.