UFC 249: Dominick Cruz doubles down on referee criticism – ‘these guys are getting hammered, coming in hungover’
- Former bantamweight champ Cruz says ref Keith Peterson was ‘mumbling’ before title fight and ‘couldn’t make eye contact’
- ‘Jeremy Stephens has told me, he had to carry that dude back up to his room before, he’s so hammered,’ says Cruz
The former bantamweight champion was livid after a controversial stoppage with just two seconds to go in the second round. Cejudo had knocked him down with a knee to the face, and Cruz ate around 10 unanswered punches on the floor, but appeared to be getting to his feet when Peterson waived it off.
After a day to reflect, Cruz doubled down on his criticism, though, in an interview with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani.
“Before I went out to that fight, I specifically remember looking at this referee, Keith Peterson, and he’s mumbling, he’s touching the floor, he’s putting his fists down, and then putting his fingers about where not to knee, where to knee,” Cruz said.
“And he won’t look me in the eye, and I’m going underneath to try to make sure he looks me in my eyes and I’m like, ‘Hey man, I can’t understand what you’re talking about, be clear, because you are in control of this fight’.”
