UFC Bantamweight Champion Henry Cejudo reveals why he isn’t fighting the top contenders in the 135-pound division.
As many of you know by now, Cejudo will defend the belt against the returning Dominick Cruz; however, the Arizona native was originally set to fight Jose Aldo until the former Featherweight Champion was forced to pull out due to visa issues.
However, neither man are in the top three rankings within the Bantamweight division, with Marlon Moraes, Petr Yan, and Aljamain Sterling currently in the top spots. So why is Henry Cejudo not facing one of those three contenders instead? Well, it appears that the 33-year-old doesn’t believe that any of those fighters are top contenders for the belt (Transcript courtesy of MMA Junkie):
“Dominick was my first choice, since the beginning I wanted to fight (him),” Cejudo said during the UFC 249 Conference Call. “I thought it was a great storyline – we’re both from Arizona, he’s a great champ, I beat the No. 1 contender Marlon Moraes, and there was really not a concrete No. 1 contender after I beat Moraes. My original plan was to fight him, but then I saw the fact that Jose Aldo did a good job with Marlon Moraes, who was the No. 1 contender. I went with Aldo, but I told Dominick, Dominick should stay on the lines because if anything happens, you’re the guy that I want next. And it just turned out to be that Jose Aldo couldn’t get a visa and that allowed Dominick Cruz to get back in. But he was always part of the plan and now we’re going to scrap.”
According to Cejudo, those three will get an opportunity eventually, but until, they'll just have to wait their turn:
“Wait for their chance, wait for the king to tell them to bend the knee,” Cejudo said. “Aljamain Sterling got knocked out by a guy that I knocked out, so wait in line. And Peter Yan needs to learn better English. He absolutely sucks and you can’t beat a 41-year-old and expect a title shot – that’s just ridiculous. I rather fight someone who hasn’t fight in four years.”
UFC 249 takes place on Saturday, May 9 from the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida with Tony Ferguson and Justin Gaethje headlining. Cejudo and Cruz will be the co-main event of the show.