Dominick Cruz won’t be hanging up his gloves yet.
Cruz competed for the UFC bantamweight championship against Henry Cejudo this past Saturday night (May 9). It was Cruz’s bid to become a three-time UFC 135-pound champion. It wasn’t meant to be as Cruz was stopped via second-round TKO.
Cruz Will Not Retire After UFC 249 Loss
With his legacy already intact and having not won a fight since June 2016, many have wondered if Cruz will decide to walk away from MMA competition. Speaking to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, “The Dominator” said he isn’t going anywhere (h/t BJPenn.com).
“Yeah, I’m in this. I just need to get in there and get some more rounds. Let these legs flush, move them around. I’m healthy, I love feeling lethal, and right now, I am a lethal person still. I just love being healthy. It feels so good to be healthy,” Dominick Cruz said to ESPN. “Even after a fight, to feel healthy like I do, it’s different. I’m usually used to going into these five-round wars and I’m used to double the amount of damage, triple the amount of damage that I took. Over five rounds you just accumulate a lot, even with good decision making you accumulate a lot on your feet and your hands. None of that is taking place. My face is fine, I barely got hit on my face. It’s just part of it. Loss is part of this thing.”
Cruz has had to deal with injuries over the years. When “The Dominator” shared the Octagon with Cejudo, it was his first fight since Dec. 2016. Cejudo announced his retirement after the UFC 249 co-main event, so it may leave the door open for yet another title opportunity for Cruz at some point in the future.
