Will Henry Cejudo relinquish the UFC Flyweight title?
It’s been an interesting couple of months for the two-division champion as Dana White made it clear that Joseph Benavidez will be the next challenger for the belt. Cejudo hasn’t defended the Flyweight belt since January and White told reporters that “Triple C” needs to defend the title next or vacate it.
Cejudo has yet to respond to White on what his decision will be when it comes to the Flyweight title and Benavidez simply wants an answer to keep the division moving forward (transcript courtesy of
MMA Fighting):
“We know the deal — it’s defend or relinquish,“ Benavidez said. “
So let’s get a timeline now of when will he have to make a decision to defend. Because I’m OK with waiting, but to what end if it goes past a year and the guy ends up relinquishing the title, when we could have got things going in the division to keep momentum.”
Cejudo and Benavidez first met back at the Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale, with Benavidez getting a split decision win. The 35-year-old notes about Cejudo’s antics outside the octagon and while it’s drawing attention to “Triple C”, it won’t change the outcome of their impending bout:
“While we’re not fighting, he’s trying to stay relevant while he’s injured by making more outrageous claims and more outrageous names,” Benavidez said.
“I mean, we’re talking about him right now and everyone on Instagram is saying, ‘You’re crazy,’ so I guess it’s doing the job. He is getting more popular and he’s building the attention. I’ve never had more people in my life come up to me and say, ‘I can’t wait until you beat Henry Cejudo.’ That’s what people are telling me, so he’s doing it at his own expense. But it is in some way a formula because everyone is talking about it. At the end of the day, he’s already been told what has to happen. Maybe he’s just waiting for that to actually be real.”
There is no word yet on when Cejudo is going to be back in action, as he is currently recovering from a shoulder injury.