Henry Cejudo feels like ‘the face of the UFC’

Last weekend, in the main event of the stacked UFC 238 card, former Olympic gold medalist and reigning flyweight champ Henry Cejudo added another accomplishment to his resume, capturing the UFC bantamweight strap with a TKO of Marlon Moraes.

With this victory, Cejudo no stands out as one of the most accomplished fighters in combat sports, and one of the UFC’s most compelling stars.

If you ask him, however, he might just be the promotion’s biggest star outright. And he’s hoping for paydays that reflect that.

“I need to meet with Dana White, too. I need a meeting with him because I need heavyweight money,” Cejudo said at the UFC 238 post-fight press conference (via MMA Fighting). “I feel like I’m the face of the UFC now and I want to get paid like one.

“Dana has been great to me. He’s been really good. I have nothing bad to say but I want to make heavyweight money. I want to change this game.”

After his victory over Marlon Moraes, Henry Cejudo called for fights with former UFC champs Dominick Cruz and Cody Garbrandt and UFC Hall of Famer Urijah Faber. He says the appeal of matchups with these fighters — rather than top contenders like Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan — is that they’re all legends.

“Because those are legends,” Cejudo said, explaining the reason for these callouts. “I want big fights. I’m on a legend rampage. That’s what I want. I’m a legend killer. I want big fights.

“Dominick Cruz, you guys wouldn’t like Dominick Cruz versus Henry Cejudo? Doesn’t that sound exciting?”

Needless to say, Henry Cejudo is looking for big fights and big paydays.

Do you think he’s one of the biggest stars in the UFC?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 6/10/2019.