Dominick Cruz will never forget the night he lost against Henry Cejudo and the referee who helped him lose. The 9th of May, 2020. Cruz, one of the best fighters ever at 135 pounds, fought Cejudo, the bantamweight champion at the time, at UFC 249 in Jacksonville, Florida. The official score: Cejudo won by technical knockout at 4:58 of Round 2. The fight's actual ending was more messier. Cejudo hit Cruz with a knee and then threw a lot of punches, making Cruz go into full defense mode. Referee Keith Peterson rushed in to stop the fight when it looked like Cruz would be able to recover and make it to the conclusion of the round. Cruz immediately protested, saying that Peterson "smelled like alcohol and cigarettes." Cruz had the chance to talk about the situation again during a long chat with Demetrious Johnson on the MightyCast. Time has not changed his mind about what happened. Cruz stated, "That one got away, and [Cejudo is] kind of one of the people I've been talking about wanting to rematch, the way that fight went." "I'm standing up. I'm awake. I'm not trying to, but I'm up and there's only one second left on the clock and "All-Nonsense." Keith Peterson is a total f*ck-up because of that. "It's the only sporting event in the world right now, and there's one second left on the clock. I'm on my feet, and I did my job as a fighter, but he failed as a referee." A total failure. He has done it many times. Cruz, who is a cageside analyst for UFC events, has never been afraid to speak out against Peterson, one of MMA's oldest officials. Cruz asked before UFC 259 that any referee save Peterson be assigned to his bout while he was still an active fighter. Cruz has always said he was to blame for the Cejudo loss, but he can't understand why Peterson didn't understand the issue better. Cruz remarked, "Yes, that fight got away from me, and it taught me that I got hit when I shouldn't have." "Yes, I took full responsibility for that and informed Keith Peterson so. Yes, I shouldn't have gotten clipped and then dropped. I get knocked down in practically every bout, but I get back up and kick your ass. I knew this was going to be a part of it. I knew the first three rounds would be a fight with Henry. He's not a fool, but I knew that after that it would be my turn, and he understood that too. We were playing a game, and Keith Peterson snatched that chance away from me. He took half of my check because he wanted to see Henry and hear Henry say, "Stop it, I'm hurting him." "Man, you're a weakling. That's why you're a weak person. So get your life in order and then come back and ref. That fight got away from me. You didn't muck up a small fight. I don't take this lightly since it's the job of my whole life. Cruz was especially angry because Peterson said their debate in the cage was part of a bigger conversation. Before the fight, Cruz was already worried about Peterson's actions and didn't trust the referee very much. Cruz added, "I talked to him in the back before that fight." "I made him start over from the beginning. You know how the refs come in the back? He wouldn't look me in the eyes." He was all over the place. Nobody will talk about it, but my coaches can corroborate that I made him start the whole thing over. I told the referee to go back and start over. "Hey, look me in the eyes when you talk to me. I want to make sure we're both here and that we understand each other. Don't give up on this fight. There will be a war. I already know the first three rounds. I might get knocked out, but that's okay. I told him that, and what happened? That's why I was so angry. He wouldn't look me in the eye during this chat, and there was something off about the guy in the back. That's what no one knows about the complete event.