UFC 249 Video: Watch Henry Cejudo Vs. Dominick Cruz Countdown

UFC 249 is fast approaching. The promotion’s first fight card since UFC Fight Night 170, which took place in Brazil —without a crowd — on March 14, takes place on Saturday, May 9 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. In the main event, former interim UFC lightweight champion Tony Ferguson faces ex-World Series of Fighting 155-pound kingpin Justin Gaethje.  The co-headliner features bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo putting his title on the line against Dominick Cruz, who is an ex-two-time 135-pound titleholder.

Cejudo won the UFC 125-pound belt in August 2018 when he brought Demetrious Johnson’s UFC record-setting title reign to an end via split decision. Johnson had defended his belt 11 times before losing to Cejudo. In January 2019, Cejudo defended his flyweight belt with a 32-second TKO win over then-bantamweight kingpin T.J. Dillashaw. Cejudo became a two-division champion in June 2019 when he won the vacant 135-pound strap with a third round TKO victory over Marlon Moraes. Cejudo vacated the flyweight title in December 2019 in order to focus on the bantamweight division. The bout against Cruz marks his first attempted defense of that title.

Cruz, who was the first UFC bantamweight champion, defended that title twice before he vacated the belt due to injuries. Cruz was on the shelf from late 2011 until September 2014. When he returned to action at UFC 178, Cruz scored a 61-second knockout win over Takeya Mizugaki. In his next bout, Cruz defeated Dillashaw via split decision to regains the UFC bantamweight champion. He defended that title in June 2016 with a unanimous decision victory over his longtime rival Urijah Faber, but lost the belt to Cody Garbrandt in December of that year via unanimous decision. Injuries have kept Cruz out of the octagon since his loss to Garbrandt.

Watch the UFC Countdown video for the co-main event matchup below. 

UFC 249 takes place at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. The main card streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.