Henry Cejudo Stops Dominick Cruz In Two Rounds

In this co-main event, Henry Cejudo makes the first defence of his bantamweight title against former champion Dominick Cruz. ”Triple C’ was supposed to face Jose Aldo in Brazil today but the ongoing global pandemic means he has a new opponent, who he’ll face in the USA. Cruz is fighting for the first time since losing his 135lb strap almost four years ago,

Round 1: Both fighters come out with very different stances. Henry Cejudo is in that karate stance hunting down Dominick Cruz who is staying light on his feet with lots of movement. Cejudo is chopping at Cruz with nasty leg kicks early in round one. Cruz almost scores a surprise takedown on the Olympic gold medal winning wrestler. ‘The Dominator’ comes in with a flying knee but ‘Triple C’ catches it and gets a takedown of his own. Cejudo works some ground and pound but Cruz gets back to his feet quickly. Cruz loads up and misses and pays for it as Cejudo lands a nice one-two inside. Cruz shoots in for a takedown at the end of the round but Cejudo defends and the horn sounds to end the first stanza.

Round 2: Cejudo again opens up with some kicks. He’s going to the legs and to the body with full power. Cruz doesn’t seem overly bothered and is able to get off his own low kicks. Both men stand there ground and swing for a couple of seconds, not much lands. Cejudo is fake shooting and then attempting the knee off of the clinch. They are coming close but not landing clean. Cruz lands a few good punches. He’s throwing hard and finding his range now – Cruz looks better in round two. Cejudo isn’t letting him get ahead of steam though and lands a couple of power rights of his own, before going back to the leg kicks. Cruz shoots for the single and is easily shrugged off, he still manages to land a nice hook though. The fighters clash heads and a nasty cut has opened on Cejudo. The referee steps in and gets the doctor to take a look at it before allowing the fighters to continue. Cejudo lands a knee as Cruz comes in and he’s seriously hurt. The champ swarms with ground and pound – referee Keith Peterson steps in and waves off the fight.

OFFICIAL RESULT: Henry Cejudo def. Dominick Cruz, KO (Punches), 4:58.