Henry Cejudo doesn’t see why Brandon Moreno shouldn’t fight him at bantamweight.
Moreno (21-8-2 MMA, 9-5-2 UFC) called out Cejudo for a bantamweight bout last May, and Cejudo is willing to fight him at UFC 306 at the Sphere in Las Vegas – also known as “Noche UFC.”
Moreno is coming off a split decision loss to Brandon Royval in the UFC Fight Night 237 main event Saturday at Mexico City Arena. Cejudo (16-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) says he’s merely responding to Moreno’s prior callout.
“This was Brandon’s idea – I’m just accepting his challenge,” Cejudo told MMA Junkie in an interview to promote his new “Pound for Pound” podcast with Kamaru Usman. “Once I lost to Aljamain Sterling, he says, ‘Henry, don’t retire yet. F the belts, F everything, this isn’t about that, let’s me and you fight.’ And after this fight, just like, ‘All right man.’ I was contemplating retirement, but I just couldn’t – once I watched the fight, I knew the errors, I knew everything pretty much that happened, you know?”
In a recent interview with The Schmo, Cejudo’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, suggested there’s reluctance to make Cejudo vs. Moreno because the UFC thinks “The Assassin Baby” is too small. Cejudo dismissed that notion.
“That’s the stupidest sh*t ever,” Cejudo said. “I know Brandon. The dude struggles to make 125 pounds. He’s too f*cking big. It’s time for him to move up. I’m short. It sucks to make 125 pounds. This is the same reason why I went up (to bantamweight). I think he’ll become more successful, and I personally think he’ll feel better.”
Cejudo contemplated retirement after getting outlasted by Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 298, but quickly changed his tune.
