Petr Yan (photo via UFC / YouTube)

By FCF Staff

Recently Dominick Cruz relayed that he’s looking to fight the winner of the Petr Yan – Marlon Moraes fight, so he can springboard into a title fight. But, since then, Yan has made it clear he thinks Cruz has some work to do first, before they battle.

Yan is expected to fight Moraes at the UFC’s June 13th card in Kazakhstan. While speaking to MMA Fighting recently, Cruz reported that he was hoping to face Yan next, before he learned the rising bantamweight’s booked to fight Moraes. The former champ also said that he’d like to fight the winner, as it’s a “direct” fight to a title shot.

But, while talking about Cruz’s comments recently with MMA Junkie, Yan said the following.

“To be honest, I thought he retired and became a TV commentator already,” Yan said through a translator. “He was a great fighter and the champion and I respect that, but we don’t know at what level he is right now.

“I won’t say no if UFC offers the fight against him, but I prefer if we fight after he proves that he can have a fight camp without being injured and that he can still win at the top level. Reality is that I have more UFC wins than him and I’ve been in this organization less than two years.”

Due to injuries, Cruz hasn’t fought since 2016 when he lost the title to Cody Garbrandt via decision.