Dominick Cruz believes Henry Cejudo still has a lot of growing up to do as a fighter.

Cejudo hasn’t been shy in taking aim at a number of fighters, even female UFC champions. Since becoming a two-division champion, Cejudo has taken his cringe gimmick to a new level. One of the fighters that Cejudo has fired verbal shots towards is Cruz.

Cruz was a guest on a new edition of ESPN’s Ariel Helwani MMA Show. During his appearance, Cruz said Cejudo isn’t as mature in the MMA game as he thinks.


“The things that he has done in the sport, you have to tip your cap to him in the sport of wrestling. But in the sport of fighting, he is still very green, very new and extremely soft. This man has been catered to his entire life because coaches his whole life have seen him as a super athlete. So they always pull him out of the masses and take care of him, coddle him, baby him. He came straight out of high school to the Olympic training center to compete in wrestling,” he said.

As far as Cejudo’s “King of Cringe” shtick is concerned, Cruz believes it stems from “Triple C” failing to grasp who he truly is.

“Henry Cejudo is the gold medal. That’s all he knows. So that’s all you ever hear from him is what he’s earned. If you take away the gold medal, the UFC belt, what would you hear Henry Cejudo say that he is? Who does he make a difference for? What’s his purpose here? I think that is what makes him such a confusing entity to the world,” he said.

“He doesn’t know who the heck he is without winning in competition. So to be able to beat that man, and explain to the world just how confused he is; this man thinks the whole world evolves after winning medals and belts. Well, when that is all said and done, what are you going to be? So after I beat him down he is going to be in that question for a period of time,” said Cruz. “The cringe is to hide what he doesn’t know to be, which is himself.”