Henry Cejudo is not happy about the co-main event on his return PPV card.
It has been three years since the last time Henry Cejudo stepped foot in the UFC Octagon. He retired from the sport back in 2020 but now has the itch to return. He is being granted a title fight in his first bout back due to his resume and pulling power. Cejudo will be facing bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288. In the lead-up to his return, Cejudo has been critical of Sterling and how he does not believe he is capable of selling this fight.
Cejudo and Sterling are heading the pay-per-view card. This will be the first time since winning his title that Sterling is getting top billing. Usually, in the past, the lighter-weight title fights are behind the heavier-weight fighters. Now with Sterling and Cejudo in the spotlight, they will be getting the responsibility of making the event a success. However, that job just got a bit more difficult.
Henry Cejudo wanted the UFC to bring more star power to the UFC 288 co-main event
There was a huge lightweight title contender fight slated for the UFC 288 card. Former champion Charles Oliveira was to take on Beneil Dariush in the co-main slot. Unfortunately, Oliveira was injured and that fight was pushed back. Now Cejudo is begging a big named fighter to step up and fill in.
“Oliveira is out, UFC 288, guys co-main event obviously I’m the main event. What is it that’s for grabs here guy, there’s an opportunity for all you UFC fighters who actually literally want to get in there…If there’s one thing that I can really tell you guys, guys fight each other. You guys are not getting any younger, the winner of this fight could be the next contender for the belt,” he said. “With Charles Olivera and Dariush out I almost felt like they should probably should have done Dariush vs. Dustin Poirier, winner gets a damn title shot.”
Cejudo is not too happy with the UFC’s decision to move Dariush vs. Oliveira to another card and not set up a replacement. The new co-main event right now sits with a strawweight fight between former champion Jessica Andrade and Yan Xiaonan.
“This is where the pay-per-view numbers are gonna go up. It’s been damn near three years that I fought. You see what I’m saying? And Aljamain is probably not the most lovable guy either, you see what I’m saying? So we do need a little bit of that co-main event heat that can kind of complement the main event as well,” he said. “But if you’re gonna have two girls who people really don’t know about, it’s you know, this is really on the UFC’s back.”
Many times champions will get PPV points for how much a card sells. If this event sells more PPV orders then Sterling will get more money. It is possible that Cejudo may get paid more as well if the card is a success. This is why he wants all the help he can get. However, claiming that the female fight will not do the trick is low. Andrade is a former champion and has been at the top in two different weight classes for years.
