In case you were wondering when you could find live sports other than badminton and table tennis to bet on, your problems are finally solved. On Saturday, UFC 249 will take place in Jacksonville, Florida, at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. There won’t be any fans, though, as the Sunshine State has deemed pro sports an essential business, on the condition that the stands remain empty. So this fight card, which at one point was headed to a secret island and at another point was headed to a Native American reservation until the governor of California called the head of Disney (which owns ESPN) to intervene, will now take place in sunny Florida. The main event (which we cover in a separate article) pits Tony Ferguson against Justin Gaethje for the interim UFC Lightweight Championship. This article contains sports betting odds and insights for the co-headliner, as Henry Cejudo will defend his UFC Bantamweight title against Dominick Cruz. Below you will find the full card as well as the UFC Betting Odds of Cejudo vs. Cruz.
UFC 249: Cejudo vs Cruz Preview
Main Card (Pay Per View)
- Tony Ferguson vs Justin Gaethje (UFC Lightweight Championship)
- Henry Cejudo vs Dominick Cruz (UFC Bantamweight Championship)
- Francis Ngannou vs Jairzinho Rozenstruik (Heavyweight)
- Jeremy Stephens vs Calvin Kattar (Featherweight)
- Greg Hardy vs Yorgan de Castro (Heavyweight)
Preliminary Card (ESPN)
- Donald Cerrone vs Anthony Pettis (Welterweight)
- Aleksei Oleinik vs Fabricio Werdum (Heavyweight)
- Carla Esparza vs Michelle Waterson (Women’s Strawweight)
- Uriah Hall vs Ronaldo Souza (Middleweight)
Early Preliminary Card (ESPN+)
- Vicente Luque vs Niko Price (Welterweight)
- Bryce Mitchell vs Charles Rosa (Featherweight)
- Ryan Spann vs Sam Alvey (Light Heavyweight)
Henry Cejudo (15-2, -225) vs Dominic Cruz (22-2, +185) features an intriguing matchup between a champion who has never quite gotten all of the accolades and buzz he deserves against a challenger who is returning from a long layoff. Cejudo’s earliest big win was an upset of Demetrious Johnson, the longtime holder of the UFC Flyweight belt. However, UFC decided at that point to see if they could merge flyweight and bantamweight, matching Cejudo up with bantamweight champ T.J. Dillashaw. However, Cejudo finished Dillashaw quickly, and then he added weight to try and take Dillashaw’s bantamweight belt as well. Dillashaw had to miss the fight with a failed drug test, and Cejudo won the interim title from Marlon Moraes. However, Cejudo had to have surgery after that, and so his star has dimmed a bit. Flyweight and bantamweight are not the red-meat divisions in UFC, as they tend to get focus from just the serious fans of the sport. Cruz is a former champion that Cejudo wants to fight to build some publicity, as opposed to a dangerous contender.
Cruz has not entered the Octagon in almost four years, when he took part in the co-headliner at UFC 207, back in 2016. He was the first UFC Bantamweight champion after leaving World Extreme Cagefighting, and he mounted two successful title defenses. However, an ACL tear made it hard for Cruz to keep up his performance. Then his body rejected the transplanted ACL (which came from a cadaver), and Cruz ended up missing two whole years. Then he tore a groin while training for his comeback. Another ACL tear kept him out all of 2015, but then he finished Dillashaw in his return. After winning the title — and losing it to Cody Garbrandt, he has been injured again.
A Cruz win would be a shocking result. Cejudo has Olympic-quality wrestling skills, and his striking game has gotten better as time has gone by. In the win over Moraes, he decided to absorb punches while moving forward and trying to bring ultimate pressure. Cruz could land some bombs in the early going, but he doesn’t have knockout power. Cejudo knows how to move for the finish when he thinks that his opponent is on the edge — and Cejudo could also take the fight to the ground. Cruz is an intriguing opponent but may have just too much rust.
Final Prediction: Cejudo wins via stoppage.
