Joseph Benavidez News

James Lynch - April 11, 2019

Joseph Benavidez didn’t get to face Henry Cejudo next but will get to face familiar foe instead. UFC officials confirmed Wednesday that former title challenger Benavidez will face Jussier Formiga at UFC Minneapolis on June 29.  These two first fought at UFC Fight Night 28 in Sept. 2013, with Benavidez earning a first-round TKO finish. Benavidez (27-5) is coming off a unanimous decision win over Dustin Ortiz at UFC Brooklyn in January which gave him back-to-back wins for the first time since Dec. 2016. Prior to that, the Xtreme Couture product earned his first stoppage victory since Apr. 2014 when he finished Alex Perez in the first round via TKO. The two-time UFC title challenger has gone 8-1 in his last nine fights, including a split decision nod over current flyweight kingpin Henry Cejudo. Benavidez made his UFC debut in Mar. 2011 and holds wins over John Moraga, Tim Elliott and the aforementioned champ Cejudo.

Cole Shelton - March 22, 2019

Back in January, Henry Cejudo defended his flyweight title when he knocked out T.J. Dillashaw in 32 seconds. Following the fight, it was expected that Cejudo would move up in weight to rematch Dillashaw for the bantamweight title. However, news came out on Tuesday that Dillashaw will be suspended for a year for ‘adverse findings’ in his pre-fight drug test sample.

Drake Riggs - January 22, 2019

At UFC Brooklyn, the flyweights put on the exact type of performances that they needed to in the hopes of saving their division from being removed from the UFC. Obviously, in the event’s headliner, we saw the champion Henry Cejudo fend off the bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw by earning a TKO win in just 32 seconds.

Drake Riggs - January 17, 2019

https://twitter.com/aaronbronsteter/status/1085973908308795392?s=19 “I mean… We were really good friends and really close,” Joseph Benavidez said at UFC Brooklyn media day when asked whether or not he and TJ Dillashaw are friends. “Things are a little… Things are a little compromised now. “It’s easy to say you’re a friend and this guy’s a friend, and this guy’s a friend of mine, but it’s more like… To act like a friend, you know what I mean? Kinda like actions and words and stuff like that so… I wouldn’t say he acts like the best friend. But we have a history so we go back and there is friends that are just like, alright, well… You get annoyed each other or whatever for a while so I guess he was never a good friend but we were teammates and we had gone through a ton together so I think that brings him close. But other than that…

Drake Riggs - December 4, 2018

After a briefly controversial moment in his last time out this past Friday, Joseph Benavidez (26-5) still found himself able to secure the win by first-round TKO over Alex Perez. The win marked Benavidez’ first since December 2016 when he defeated the now champion, Henry Cejudo.

Drake Riggs - November 28, 2018

It’s been a bit of a wild time for the UFC’s lightest men’s division of flyweight. Seemingly doing away with the division overall, the weight class’ title will still be fought over come early next year which has left many confused.

Tom Taylor - August 19, 2018

Two-time UFC flyweight title challenger Joseph Benavidez feels that, even though he’s currently riding a decision loss to Sergio Pettis, he has a strong claim to the next shot at new UFC flyweight champ Henry Cejudo. If Benavidez is able to win his next fight, a UFC Denver bout with former title challenger Ray Borg, his argument will be even stronger. Benavidez explained why he feels he deserves a fight with Cejudo in a recent interview with MMAjunkie. His main argument is that he is the last man to beat Cejudo, having bested the current champ by split decision in December of 2016.

Drake Riggs - August 7, 2018

The UFC’s return to Denver is slowly but surely being put together fight by fight. And it’s off to quite the solid start. After having UFC Denver’s main event and co-main events recently announced, a third top-ranked matchup has been added to the November 10th card.

Drake Riggs - May 30, 2018

Next Saturday’s UFC 225 pay-per-view card in Chicago, Illinois is one of the most stacked cards of the year. The event will host a whopping 16 ranked UFC fighters competing against one another. With so much talent, some fighters were bound to be positioned in spots they wouldn’t be fond of. One of those being one of the two fighters who are ranked as #1 contenders in their divisions, Joseph Benavidez.

Drake Riggs - May 16, 2018

Top UFC flyweight contender, Henry Cejudo doesn’t seem so happy. After roasting the champion, Demetrious Johnson earlier today on Twitter, Cejudo continued to detail the recent situation involving him and the champion and even dropped some news of potential future plans for the flyweight division.

Justin Golightly - March 9, 2018

Dealing with a knee injury since Summer of last year, Joseph Benavidez has been out on the sidelines watching the flyweight division move on without him. Only, it hasn’t really moved on. The unstoppable Demetrious Johnson is still at the top and all the major players have also been beat by Benavidez. That’s why when he makes his triumphant return against Sergio Pettis at UFC 225, he wants to prove he’s still number one and get another crack at Mighty Mouse. “For anyone who says I shouldn’t [get a shot] or that I’ve fought him twice or whatever — I realize when there is money to be made, maybe you’ll pick the No. 8 guy in the division because it will sell more. But with our division, there’s not a star. Demetrious [Johnson]is the best fighter ever, and he’s not a star. So what do we really have? All we have is our talent. That’s what’s great about the division, you can see things that 125-pound guys can do that some other guys can’t. All we have is our skill. So if we don’t have a big fight, why wouldn’t you have the best fighters fight?”

Drake Riggs - February 26, 2018

After being out of action since December of 2016, one of if not the most underrated fighters in the sport’s history is back. Perennial #1 ranked flyweight contender, two-time flyweight title challenger, and former WEC bantamweight title challenger, Joseph Benavidez will make his comeback against Sergio Pettis at UFC 225 in Chicago, Illinois, June 9, reports the Chicago Tribune.

bjpenndotcom - December 24, 2016

It has now been three years since UFC flyweight kingpin Demetrious Johnson and Joseph Benavidez shared the Octagon. The last time the pair met inside the Octagon, Johnson picked up a 1st round KO win to retain his title for the third time. That fight came just over a year after the pair had their first meeting in 2012, where Johnson picked up a split decision win to win the UFC flyweight championship. Now, in the midst of a 6-fight win streak that recently saw him pick up a split decision win over Henry Cejudo at the TUF 24 Finale in December, Benavidez is hopeful that he will be able to secure a trilogy fight with the flyweight champ.

Tom Taylor - December 5, 2016

Last Saturday, the UFC returned to Las Vegas, Nevada with the finale of the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter. The card was headlined by a flyweight title fight between dominant champ Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson and unsung challenger Tim Elliott. The co-main event, meanwhile, pitted top-ranked flyweights and recent Mighty Mouse victims Joseph Benavidez and Henry Cejudo against each other. It was a fantastic fight. In the end, this action-packed co-main event would be awarded to Benavidez, who walked away with a split decision win. This result was extremely controversial, however, as Cejudo dropped Benavidez in the first, and enjoyed plenty of success in the second and third rounds. In fact, many fans believe he should have been awarded the win.

bjpenndotcom - September 8, 2016

It’s no secret that The Ultimate Fighter has given some of the best rivalries in MMA a platform to be seen by the world.