Henry Cejudo is no longer ‘Triple C’.
The Olympic champion has been stripped of his UFC flyweight title, and the UFC are looking to place the 125lb strap on the line in a fight between Joseph Benavidez and Deiveson Figueiredo for UFC Norfolk. BJPenn.com first reported the news.
Benavidez has been awaiting a shot at the flyweight championship since a win in June, his third in a row. He had been heavily campaigning to meet Cejudo upon the champion’s return from injury, whom he already possesses a win over.
Cejudo has been double champion for the better part of 2019, but suffered an injury in a bantamweight title-winning contest over Marlon Moraes and has been left unable to compete. While the UFC were initially okay with permitting Cejudo to go back and forth between the two weights and defend the two titles — something they’ve previously been reluctant to do — Cejudo’s interest in names at 135lbs rather than 125lbs seems to have forced their hand.
Most recently, Cejudo called out Jose Aldo, who made his divisional debut last Saturday night. While Aldo lost a close decision to Moraes, UFC president Dana White revealed afterwards at the post-fight press conference that Cejudo had been in contact and stated he felt Aldo had won and deserved the next shot at the gold.
