Dana White Defends Dominick Cruz Getting UFC 249 Title Shot
Dominick Cruz will skip the line of contenders to face Henry Cejudo for the bantamweight title. And UFC president Dana White has no problem with that.
Cruz meets Cejudo in the co-main event of UFC 249 which takes place May 9 in Jacksonville, Florida. The booking has receiving plenty of criticism given that Cruz is coming off a bantamweight title defeat and hasn’t competed since December 2016.
However, White defended the title fight as he believes “The Dominator” still reigns as one of the best fighters in the world.
“He’s still one of the best in the world,” White told ESPN in a recent Instagram Live session. “He’s one of the best in the world. He’s a guy who has been incredibly plagued with injuries throughout his career. But he’s still looked at as one of the best in the world.”
Criticism has also gone Cejudo’s way. It has become a recurring theme that the current bantamweight king has only called out and campaigned to face big names on losing streaks.
Even before Cruz, “Triple C” was initially scheduled to face Jose Aldo at UFC 250 until government restrictions ruled out the Brazilian. Meanwhile, more deserving contenders on winning streaks such as Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling are left on the sidelines.
But White doesn’t believe Cejudo is ducking any of them. In fact, he is understanding of why the champion wants to face the big names.
“For a guy like Henry Cejudo, who literally is willing to fight anybody and wants to fight all the best – you want Jose Aldo, the Dominick Cruz’s and those kind of guys on your resume,” White added.
What do you make of Cruz getting the next title shot?
