Henry Cejudo will be making his first UFC bantamweight title defense against someone coming off of a loss.
Former dual champ Cejudo (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) takes on former UFC featherweight king Jose Aldo (28-6 MMA, 10-5 UFC) at UFC 250, which takes place in Sao Paulo on May 9.
Cejudo has been sidelined with a shoulder injury and hasn’t competed since winning the vacant 135-pound title with a fourth-round finish over Marlon Moraes at UFC 238 this past June.
With top ranked contenders Aljamain Sterling, Petr Yan and Cory Sandhagen waiting for their cracks at the title, Cejudo decided to go after a legend in Aldo, who failed to make good in his 135-pound debut.
Aldo was edged out by Moraes in a controversial split decision loss at UFC 245. It was a fight both Cejudo and UFC president Dana White thought Aldo won. Aldo is coming off back-to-back losses, joining a rare few to get title shots off two straight setbacks.
With the booking, several bantamweights including Sandhagen, Sterling and Yan, had their say with the peculiar title booking.
“I could (not) care less,” Sandhagen told MMA Junkie. “I know I wasn’t next and I’m grateful he finally made a decision so all these other guys will stop shooting for him and start fighting me. I’ll be rooting for the ‘King of Rio.’ He has been one of my favorite fighters since the WEC.”
Sterling on the other hand, wasn’t too amused.
“The fight that no one asked for and that nobody wanted to see! #MakeRankingsGreatAgain 🗑🗑🗑”
“This clown choosing Aldo because I don’t speak perfect English 🤦🏻♂️ Since when Jose is the fluent speaker? What kind of logic is that? Henry knows he is not a draw and he is unsecured. In his head he already lost the fight to me. @ufc give me someone who is confident in himself!”
With the top contenders not getting their shots at the title, that means the division will likely be held up, making the road to contention a little longer for surging bantamweights like Marlon Vera. But he understands why the UFC made the matchup.
“The ufc just piss all over the top 5 BW division booking Aldo & Cejudo guess what good job Aldo have the name at the end of the day. That top 5 very hard to sell they can fight tho but no good for business, and this is why I love this game u have to throw urselve to the fire 2 make it.”
Jimmie Rivera, who is looking to climb his way back up to contention, is just happy to see progress in the division again.
“(I) can’t wait to watch it and I am happy that division is going somewhere right now,” Rivera told MMA Junkie. “Where does that leave Yan and Sandhagen?”
