After a unanimous decision win over Pedro Munhoz to end the year, Dominick Cruz is now considering a clash of former champions with Jose Aldo for his next fight.
“What I’m hearing most from people — I haven’t really made a decision, I haven’t talked to [UFC matchmaker Sean] Shelby or anything, but I’m hearing most that the old legacy fight that never happened between me and [Jose] Aldo is, like, right there,” Cruz said on The MMA Hour. “And I think that that does it. I can completely understand that. I get how that’s an interesting fight for the world. To fight Aldo, it’s an honor.”
Cruz is now on a two-fight winning streak, having also beaten Casey Kenney by split decision in 2021, leaving him ranked No.7 in the bantamweight division, while Aldo has compiled a trio of wins over Marlon Vera, Pedro Munhoz and Rob Font to reach the No.3 spot.
Cruz and Aldo also have an impressive past resume though, with each having been a long-time titleholder in the WEC promotion before going to become inaugural UFC champions at bantamweight and featherweight respectively, with Cruz making a total of three defenses spread over two title runs, while Aldo made seven successful title defenses at 145lbs.
“Think of the things this dude’s done,” Cruz said. “And he’s also been through the ups and downs of his career, and now made his way back in an extremely respectful form. So that fight, I understand how that can make sense. But I’m going to sit down and, you know, we’ve got to do the talks and see what happens. But you know me — I show up and I do my job, and I’m not a pick-and-chooser. Obviously people have been calling me out my whole career, people have been comparing me to other people my whole career.
“I’ve done a really good job of not allowing that to make my decisions for me on my own end, and I’m not going to start doing that now. So let’s just see where we go.”
