Henry Cejudo Sets Sights on No. 1 Pound-for-Pound Ranking: ‘That Crown Will Be Mine’

Henry Cejudo is coming for the top pound-for-pound spot in mixed martial arts.

Currently, the UFC bantamweight champion and Olympic gold medalist is No. 3 on the UFC.com and Sherdog.com pound-for-pound polls. While the order differs in both, the two men in front of him — Khabib Nurmagomedov and Jon Jones — do not (Jones is first on UFC.com, while Nurmagomedov is No. 1 on Sherdog.com).

In a social media post on Sunday, Cejudo vowed to overtake the two champions in front of him.

“There are two men ahead of me on the pound-for-pound rankings and I’m here to tell you, ‘Virus or no virus that crown will be mine,’” Cejudo wrote.

Cejudo is scheduled to defend his bantamweight crown against Jose Aldo at UFC 250 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on May 9. “The Messenger” is currently on a five-bout winning streak that includes triumphs over Demetrious Johnson, T.J. Dillashaw and Marlon Moraes. Cejudo recently relinquished the flyweight crown after a brief stint as two-division champion.

Nurmagomedov, meanwhile, is booked before Cejudo. The reigning lightweight champion is supposed to defend his belt against Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 on April 18. That fight, and all currently scheduled events, are tentative given the ongoing measures taken to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Jones does not have his next fight scheduled after taking a hard-fought unanimous verdict over Dominick Reyes at UFC 247.

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There are two men ahead of me on the pound for pound rankings and I’m here to tell you, “ Virus or no Virus that crown will be mine” ! @khabib_nurmagomedov @jonnybones #bendtheknee

A post shared by Henry Cejudo (@henry_cejudo) on Mar 22, 2020 at 2:27pm PDT