Dana White Targets Flyweight Title Defense, Joseph Benavidez Next for Henry Cejudo
While it will still be months before any kind of real decision is made regarding Henry Cejudo’s next opponent, UFC president Dana White seems to have someone in mind for the two-division champion.
Advertisement
Benavidez, a two-time flyweight title challenger, has won nine of his last 10 bouts and is coming of a second-round TKO win over fellow top contender Jussier Formiga at UFC on ESPN 3.
Cejudo is currently recovering from shoulder surgery and might not
be ready to compete until early next year. He claimed the vacant
bantamweight title with a stoppage of Marlon
Moraes at UFC 238, and then seemed to set his sights on a trio
of 135-pound opponents: Urijah
Faber, Dominick
Cruz and Cody
Garbrandt.
While he does have a preference, White admits that it’s difficult to do too much hypothetical matchmaking until Cejudo has fully recovered.
“Cejudo’s hurt. I’ve got to see what’s next for Henry Cejudo,” White said. “You don’t know what fights you can make until everybody’s healthy and back.”
At the moment, Faber has garnered the most buzz as a potential Cejudo opponent due to his quick TKO win over Ricky Simon at UFC Sacramento. White was impressed with “The California Kid” but would not commit to giving him a bantamweight title shot two fights into his comeback.
“He looked good, man,” White said. “Obviously not just who he beat but how he beat him and how he did it. He looked incredible in his hometown that night. He looked good.”
Regardless of what the future holds for Cejudo, it appears that the flyweight division is set to stick around the UFC for a little longer. Cejudo seems to have played a major role in keeping the weight class alive after it was rumored the promotion was phasing it out.
“I think that as long as Cejudo is willing to defend both titles, he’s a guy that could carry both of them,” White said.
