Dominic Cruz has thrown wild accusations at the mixed martial arts referee, who officiated his bantamweight title fight at UFC 249.
Returning from a three-year hiatus, ‘The Dominator’ challenged defending champion Henry Cejudo for the bantamweight belt on Saturday in the main event of UFC 249 in Jacksonville, Florida.
In the second round, ‘Triple C’ landed a clean knee on Cruz and launched a flurry of uncontested punches before referee Keith Peterson stopped the fight, giving Cejudo the technical knockout win.
The former two-time bantamweight champion was quick to protest the stoppage, saying it was called early as he was trying to get into his feet when the referee made the decision in the final two seconds.
“I’m not happy with the stoppage, obviously,” he told Joe Rogan.
“I specifically asked the ref to let me go until I was out. If I stayed on the floor, fine. But I was working my way up.
“Hat’s off to Henry. I shouldn’t have gotten caught by that knee, which is what put me in that position. But I was standing up.”
Be Responsible
The 35-year old fighter out of San Diego, California echoed the same sentiment in the UFC 249 post-fight show while claiming the referee was possibly under the influence of drugs.
“That was an early stoppage, 100 percent – I’m positive of it,” Cruz stressed (via MMA Junkie).
“I wish there was a way to keep these refs a little more responsible sometimes. The guy smelled like alcohol and cigarettes, so who knows what he was doing.”
“Definitely (he did). I wish they drug tested them. I know Herb Dean is good. He’s one of the best refs. I immediately when I saw that ref I was like, ‘Man, is there a way to veto a ref and get a new one?’ I wonder that.”
No Excuse
While the call remains questionable for the former champ, he said there is no one to blame for the loss but himself.
“I’m not a guy to make excuses. If you put yourself in the position for the ref to mess something up in a stoppage, then you do so.”
Cruz absorbed the third loss of his professional MMA career to end up with a 22-3 win-loss slate. Prior to his return, he was dethroned by Cody Garbrandt in their title bout at UFC 207.
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Dominick Cruz and Henry Cejudo)