UFC 288 was a night of great fights from top to bottom. Even though many did not feel as though the card would be anything special, it still delivered on all fronts. As such, one of the things left uncertain was the future of Henry Cejudo in the UFC.
For the most part, Cejudo was unsuccessful in his attempt to recapture bantamweight gold. Although Cejudo put up a good fight, the current bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling was able to edge the contest. As such, following his split-decision loss, Cejudo revealed to Joe Rogan that it could well have been his last fight.
However, in the post-fight press conference, Cejudo had some interesting things to say. As it turns out, Brandon Moreno called for a fight with him before he retires. Responding to the flyweight champ, Cejudo says, “I guess now everybody wants a piece of me huh?” Further, Cejudo adds, “If the UFC wants to put it together and there’s a nice little budget, and for both of us, I ain’t doing it in Mexico though, hell nah”.
Thus, it would appear as though Cejudo is not done fighting just yet. Although he wishes to spend more time with his daughter and be there for the birth of his second child, Cejudo could be open to fighting. However, his terms for fighting Moreno seem to have been laid out, and it remains to see if the UFC will comply or not.
What is the rivalry between Henry Cejudo and Brandon Moreno?
For those unaware, there has been a longstanding rivalry between Henry Cejudo and Brandon Moreno. Despite both of the fighters having Mexican roots, the two are not on the best of terms and have not been for a while now. As such, many will feel excited seeing that we could finally see this long-drawn story come to a conclusion.
Previously, Triple C and Moreno used to be quite close. As Cejudo states, “We were friends at one point. He even lived with me for a minute. Got him on the Ultimate Fighter show, that didn’t work out.” Further, Henry further added. “He ended up training with Benavidez and we just became un-friends. But we were close at one point.”
This situation has also been discussed by Moreno’s long-time rival Deiveson Figueiredo. As Figgy explained, Cejudo let Moreno live with him for two years. However, after that, Moreno went and trained with Joseph Benavidez, thus helping him prepare against Cejudo. Eventually, Cejudo would go on to lose the fight against Benavidez. Thus, there has been bad blood between the two ever since and it is understandable why.
Whilst many want to see this over-arching storyline get a definitive ending, there are other options for Cejudo as well. Although he is open to fighting Merab Dvalishvili and setting up another fight against Sterling, he could also fight Max Holloway at featherweight. With the 145 lbs belt his end goal, a win over Holloway could get Cejudo the face-off with Alexander Volkanovski that he has been hoping for.
