Dana White is having any of it when it comes to Henry Cejudo.
The former two-division UFC Champion has been vying for a title shot in a new weight class. He would call out featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski after Max Holloway pulled out of their fight. But, there was a huge obstacle between ‘Triple C’ and ‘C4’: Dana White.
The UFC President would ignore Cejudo’s calls for a title opportunity, giving a shot to his teammate ‘The Korean Zombie’ instead. White and Cejudo have made their differing views known to the public, with ‘The Messenger’ claiming the UFC brass is scared.
White Brushes It Off
In the aftermath of UFC Vegas 46, White would respond when asked again about why Cejudo was passed up on the featherweight title shot.
“Isn’t that guy retired?” White said at the post-fight presser. “He’s retired, isn’t he? I mean, the last time I saw him, he’s retired. And now he’s mad that he didn’t get a title shot? It doesn’t even make sense. In a different weight class? It doesn’t make sense.”
What About GSP?
The UFC hasn’t always made sense in how they book title fights.
One example everybody points to is Georges St-Pierre getting a title shot against Michael Bisping at UFC 217. GSP was retired for 4 years and got an immediate title shot in a weight class he’s never competed at.
Cejudo would look to do basically the same thing, but was quickly denied by Dana. The comparison between GSP’s and Cejudo’s was brought to White’s attention, but was completely ignored. White continued his rant on the ‘silly conversation’.
“Yeah, so I should’ve jumped over everybody and gave it to him because all of a sudden last week he decided he isn’t retired?” White said. “Come on, man. This is a f*cking silly conversation. Silly.”
“If he wants to come back and try to win the title again in his weight class and then talk about moving up or doing something else, (that’s one thing). But you don’t just f*cking pop up and start calling somebody names and think that you’re going to get a title shot in a different weight class when you’ve been retired for, what, two and a half years?”
While White isn’t going to let Cejudo get a featherweight title shot right off the bat, he does have a scenario for which Cejudo can get it. If ‘Triple C’ could possibly get his bantamweight strap back, White would be interested in having him fight for 145lb belt.
Until then, it’s a big no from the UFC president.
