SUMMARY
- Henry Cejudo called out Brandon Moreno after his loss at UFC Mexico.
- Cejudo wants to settle their beef inside the Octagon at UFC 306 in The Sphere in Las Vegas.
Henry Cejudo called out Brandon Moreno to settle their feud inside the Octagon on Mexican Independence Day. Following the success of UFC Mexico this past weekend, UFC CEO Dana White all but confirmed that UFC 306 will take place at the Sphere in Vegas. The event will commemorate the Mexican Independence Day. Cejudo wants to fight Moreno at the grand event.
The former two-division champion took to his YouTube channel to call out Moreno. He explained how both the fighters were on a rough patch. They were both on a two-match losing streak and did not look like their best selves, according to Cejudo.
Moreno lost to Brandon Royval via split decision at UFC Mexico on February 24, 2024. On the other hand, Cejudo faced a rather humiliating defeat via a unanimous decision against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 298 on February 17, 2024.
Henry Cejudo calls out Brandon Moreno to fight at #UFC306 at the Sphere in Las Vegas in September.
He says they have a feud that dates back to TUF 24 back in 2016. Henry trained with Brandon and said he treated him like family, and says Brandon went against his word by training… pic.twitter.com/VmsAljCxoC
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) February 26, 2024
“Triple C vs Brandon Moreno. The Mexican American versus the true Mexican. And they come together and they do a five-round showdown at the sphere in Las Vegas for Mexican Independence Day. I like it. I think there’s any way that we should settle it. Enough talk and enough cringe and enough antics and enough all of that. The only way to get it on Brandon Moreno is ‘I accept your challenge,’” Cejudo said.
Further, he threw shade at Moreno and said, “Mexican Independence Day. What you got? You sign that contract? Are you a Mexican or a mexican’t?”
Cejudo’s call-out comes after a troubling friends-to-foe story between the pair. Cejudo and Moreno were like family for each other but a feud was born during their participation in The Ultimate Fighter.
Henry Cejudo and Brandon Moreno went from allies to foes due to their involvement in TUF 24
The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions, aka The Ultimate Fighter 24, took place in 2016. Before 2016, Cejudo and Moreno were like “brothers”. Cejudo had given Moreno entry into his house and his family was close to ‘The Assassin Baby’.
Considering their relationship, many believed it was a given that they would be on the same team. However, due to some complications that were explained by coach Eric Albarracin, Cejudo chose Pantoja and Moreno went to Team Benavidez.
Moreno vs Pantoja on TUF
Cejudo was devastated pic.twitter.com/BlmW4jVFic
— Ocelot MMA (@Ocelot_MMA) July 3, 2023
In the very first bout of the tournament, Moreno was beaten by Pantoja. “Good work, my king,” Cejudo told Moreno in Spanish, according to ESPN. “I love you very much.”
“Look how my life f—ing works,” a crushed Moreno claimed at the time. “Can you believe this happened to me?”
This began a disastrous feud between the pair where it seemed like they kept taking shots at each other. Moreno signed on to be part of Joseph Benavidez‘s team for his bout against Cejudo. Benavidez won that bout via split decision in December 2016.
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Cejudo claimed he asked Moreno for a grudge match after the completion of the Benavidez fight. However, Moreno refused. Moreover, Cejudo, who celebrated Moreno’s UFC Flyweight Championship, joined Deiveson Figueiredo‘s camp before his UFC 270 bout against Moreno. Many thought this was a revenge move from Cejudo but he refused. Moreno lost his title in the rematch to Figueiredo at UFC 270.
