Henry Cejudo was denied an opportunity of a lifetime.
A Failed Campaign
Despite his resume, the former two-division UFC Champion wouldn’t get an immediate title shot upon his return. Cejudo campaigned for a fight with featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski, after his original opponent Max Holloway pulled out.
‘Triple C’ would try every trick in the book to get the title fight, but it ended up being for nothing.
After a few days of deliberation, UFC President Dana White would give ‘The Korean Zombie’ the golden opportunity. Cejudo would be left in the safehaven that is retirement.
Dana On Why Cejudo Was Passed Up
White would explain his decision to leave out the decorated champion out of the title picture.
“I can tell you this: The ‘Korean Zombie’ has been here fighting,” White told BT Sport. “This guy’s retired. He’s been off for how many years now, and he wants to come in and fight Alexander Volkanovski?”
“You’ve got guys like the Zombie, Josh Emmett, Giga who’s fighting this weekend. You’ve got these guys that are in here doing it three times a year and working their way up. For Cejudo to retire and then just think he should be able to come in and jump into any weight division and take on the champion, it’s not how it works.”
Cejudo Replies
This hasn’t always been how the UFC boss operates, however.
In some scenarios, White would give out immediate title shots to former champions who were coming from long layoffs. An example would be Georges St-Pierre, who came out of retirement to challenge Michael Bisping for the middleweight strap. This fight would be made, four years after GSP retired.
Cejudo would go after White, with said example.
“So if I had blonde hair and blue eyes or if I was a Canadian with a accent, maybe you would give it to me?” Cejudo said on Twitter. “I defend both my belts unlike GPS. I left on top and retired on that Monday to give the rest of the division’s a chance. You are plain out scared that I will win.”
So if I had blonde hair and blue eyes or if I was a Canadian with a accent,maybe you would give it to me? I defend both my belts unlike GPS. I left on top and retired on that Monday to give the rest of the division’S a chance. You are plain out scared that I will win.@danawhite pic.twitter.com/nlLyNwi1ne
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) January 14, 2022
Adding To The Fire
This wouldn’t be all the former champ-champ said of his boss. He had plenty on his mind.
“They don’t have faith in Alexander Volkanovski. They really don’t because if they did, they’d allow him to try to put me down. But the thing is, they’re scared. Dana White is scared.”
“Dana White, the UFC, they don’t want it and I’m even sick of trolling [Alex] Volkanovski if the fight is never going to happen.”
