Henry Cejudo spoiled Dominick Cruz”s return to the octagon as he defeated the former champ in the co-main event of UFC 249.
Cejudo defended his bantamweight title for the first time since winning the vacant title last June 2019 by defeating Marlon Moraes via third-round technical knockout.
Following the win, which made him the fourth fighter in the UFC roster to capture two belts in different weight classes, ‘Triple C’ needed to sit out for the rest of the year because of shoulder injury.
He was originally booked for his title-retention attempt against Jose Aldo at UFC 250 but it was moved to the new UFC 249 card as the Brazilian withdrew from the fight while the promotion had to make necessary changes with its schedule due to the global pandemic.
Aside from his remaining UFC gold, Cejudo’s streak of wins is at stake as he looked to extend it to six fights and add Cruz to his list of victims.
https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1258155328325255170
Meanwhile, Cruz has made his octagon return after a three-year hiatus, with his last UFC bout ending on a sour note as he lost the bantamweight title to Cody Garbrandt in an all-out war.
A former two-time bantamweight champion, ‘The Dominator’ holds notable wins against the likes of Urijah Faber, TJ Dillashaw, and flyweight great Demetrious Johnson.
https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1258155076595613696
In the opening round, Cejudo tried to pick up from where he left off in his last fight as he engaged in a game of leg kicks against the former champ.
A head clash in the second round resulted to a cut on Cejudo. Then, the Olympic gold medalist launched a hard right followed by a brutal knee before jumping to Cruz on the mat and landed 13 uncontested punches.
The referee stepped in and called off the fight, giving Cejudo the technical knockout win.
Watch the highlights below:
https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1259335970111045633
https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1259334872298070017
Here are the UFC 249 fight card results:
Henry Cejudo def. Dominick Cruz via technical knockout
Francis Ngannou def. Jair Rozenstruik via first-round knockout
Calvin Kattar def. Jeremy Stephens via second-round knockout (elbow)
Greg Hardy def. Yorgan de Castro via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Anthony Pettis def. Donald Cerrone via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Aleksei Oleinik def. Fabricio Werdum via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Carla Esparza def. Michelle Waterson via split decision (30-27, 27-30, 29-28)
Vicente Luque def. Niko Price via third-round TKO (doctor stoppage)
Bryce Mitchell def. Charles Rosa via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-24)
Ryan Spann def. Sam Alvey via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Flyweight title defended ✅
Bantamweight title defended ✅DON'T. DOUBT. @HenryCejudo! #UFC249 pic.twitter.com/dS4HhehUFZ
— UFC (@ufc) May 10, 2020
(Featured Image Source: Twitter/ UFC)