Former UFC champion Dominick Cruz has denied Marlon Vera’s accusation that he’s ducking a fight against him.

While he may not have fought for a title since losing to Henry Cejudo back at UFC 249, Dominick Cruz is certainly still one of the best bantamweights on the planet. He’s currently riding a two-fight win streak and even at the age of 37, the popular opinion is that he could be just a few wins away from a shot at the strap based on his body of work.

Of course, he’d have to go through a few other top contenders in order to get to that point, with Marlon “Chito” Vera recently calling him out on social media.

Vera has claimed that Cruz has been ducking him which, during an appearance on The MMA Hour, Cruz denied.

“I’m open to fighting him, yeah, but what I’m hearing now is – what’s funny is he’s talked all this trash about me from what I’m hearing, but I don’t really pay attention to calling me out,” Cruz said. “I’m sorry that people calling me doesn’t affect me. Like I said, I focus on dates. I don’t say no to fights – I don’t know where he’s getting this idea that I do. I say no to dates. Opponents don’t really matter, because you’re going to have to fight everybody to get to [a] championship anyways.”

“So if he thinks I said no, I said no to dates,” Cruz said. “OK. That’s between him and his manager, whatever his manager is telling him is what he’s going to believe. I’m not opposed to that.

“What’s funny is I did hear him saying he wants somebody in the top-five or top-four, so why would he ask for those [opponents with those rankings] if it didn’t matter. If moving up the ladder didn’t matter, then why would you ask for somebody above you, not underneath you in the division, like he’s done. Well, it’s the same reason I have, the same reason the rest of us all have: We’re all fighting in the same bracket to be champion. So yeah, I’m not opposed to it. He’s ranked above me now, too. So sure. Let’s get the date.”

Quotes via MMA Fighting

Will we see Dominick Cruz vs Marlon Vera later this year?