Dominick Cruz responds after Sean O’Malley callout, ‘I’m looking to move up the division just like everybody else’

Dominick Cruz found himself on the receiving end of yet another callout after Sean O’Malley’s dominant UFC 264 victory on Saturday night.

The former two-time UFC bantamweight king was working the desk during the big event and shared his thoughts on the mention.

“I’ve been called out every weekend for about eight weeks so I’ve been dodging every person that’s been calling me out for eight weeks,” Cruz said with a sarcastic tone when speaking during the UFC 264 post-fight show (h/t MMA Fighting). “I’m looking to move up the division just like everybody else is looking to move up the division. Respect to every athlete, I’m looking to go up just like everyone else.”

This isn’t the first time a Dominick Cruz vs. O’Malley match-up has been proposed. Whether by one of the fighters themselves, or more randomly, Chael Sonnen.

O’Malley defeated late-notice replacement, Kris Moutinho, at UFC 264 via third-round TKO. Despite the one-sided nature of the bout, Moutinho’s incredible resilience earned him plenty of admiration as well as a Fight of the Night bonus.

Rob Font’s name was also mentioned along with Cruz’s by O’Malley after the win.

“Rob Font’s No. 3 [in the UFC rankings]. If I want to call somebody out; Rob Font, there we go,” Dominick Cruz said. “I can do it too.”

“What the UFC does is what the UFC does. I’m not Conor McGregor where I can just say ‘hey, give me this fight.’ So I’m just going to sit here and say No. 3, let’s go.”

Cruz last fought at UFC 259 in March when taking on unranked prospect Casey Kenney. In favor of “The Dominator,” the split decision win snapped a two-fight skid. Therefore making the win Cruz’s first since defending the title against Urijah Faber in their 2016 trilogy bout at UFC 199.