Henry Cejudo says Benavidez ‘absolutely’ deserves rematch after Figueiredo ‘cheated’ at UFC Norfolk

By Natasha Hooper - March 11, 2020

Former UFC flyweight champion Henry Cejudo believes Joseph Benavidez deserves another shot against Deiveson Figueiredo for the vacant flyweight title.

Henry Cejudo, Weili Zhang

In the main event of UFC Norfolk on February 29, the flyweights battled it out in a non title-fight. They were initially scheduled to fight for the 125 belt that was up for grabs after Cejudo was stripped. However the Brazilian “Daico” missed weight and was penalized by having his title eligibility removed. Despite missing weight, Figueiredo used a huge right hand (and potentially an inadvertent head butt) to secure the KO victory in the second round. He sits at the top of the division’s ranking, but the title Cejudo once held still remains empty.

Cejudo weighed in on the controversial non-title fight and called Figueiredo a “cheat” at the recent Dominance MMA media day.

“I think it’s good [to rematch],” Cejudo said. “I think Joe does deserves it. It was unfortunate because Joe did lose, but Figueiredo didn’t win [because] there is a disadvantage. So, it’s not so much the 2.5 pounds of water that he had to get off, it’s the fatigue that comes with it. Two and a half pounds is a lot of weight man, even 0.5 is a lot. 0.2 at times at the highest levels? Super hard, so it’s an advantage man. So Figueiredo, he did cheat.”

Cejudo joked that he defended his flyweight title from his couch during the UFC Norfolk main event. When asked if he will recognize the new champion in a possible Joseph Benavidez vs. Deiveson Figueiredo rematch, he stated:

“I will forever be “Triple C”, Olympic champ, flyweight champion and bantamweight champion of the world. They can all get it. I’m one of one, I’m the real ‘BMF’.”

Do you agree with Henry Cejudo that Joseph Benavidez deserves a rematch against Deiveson Figueiredo for the flyweight title?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 3/11/2020.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


Topics:

Deiveson Figueiredo Henry Cejudo Joseph Benavidez UFC