Dominick Cruz: Payton Talbott winnable fight for 'broke' Henry Cejudo

Dominick Cruz made sure to take a shot or two at Henry Cejudo when analyzing his retirement fight.

Former dual-champion Cejudo (16-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) is projected to make his final walk to the octagon against Payton Talbott (10-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) at UFC 323 on Dec. 6 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN2/ESPN+/Disney+/FX).

Cruz would like to remind Cejudo of the time he retired after their title fight in May 2020.

"He already did that after he fought me, and then I fought two more times when I would have rematched him, but he gets broke," Cruz told MMA Junkie of Cejudo. "So he's probably broke and he's fighting again. I think he needs the money."

Jabs aside, Cruz sees Talbott as a favorable matchup for Cejudo, but isn't counting on his former foe to follow the correct path to victory.

"Talbott's good, he's a real threat," Cruz continued. "As long as Henry mixes in his wrestling – if he wrestled as much as Merab does which he has the tools to do so, I think he would do great against Talbott, but I don't know if he will. I think he might try to stand up with him.

"So, it really comes down to what Henry decides to do. He's good enough to outwrestle Talbott for three rounds and shut him down. Definitely, no doubt in my mind. But if he strikes with him mostly like he's been doing, I think Talbott will create a lot of problems for him if he doesn't wrestle."

To hear more from Cruz ahead of UFC 323, check out his complete appearance on "The Bohnfire" podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Dominick Cruz gives take on 'broke' Henry Cejudo vs. Payton Talbott