Signed, sealed and soon-to-be delivered.
An Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Flyweight title fight between current division kingpin Henry Cejudo and Bantamweight champ, T.J. Dillashaw, has been made official for the upcoming UFC 233 pay-per-view (PPV) event on January 26, 2018 inside The Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
The fight has been rumored for quite some time, and now that it’s official, even more questions will be raised regarding the future of the 125-pound division under the UFC umbrella. After reports surfaced pointing to the promotion doing away with the weight class altogether following Demetrious Johnson’s move over to ONE FC, Dana White was non-committal on dissolving the division.
Of course, the booking of the fight doesn’t necessarily mean the 125-pound weight class — which has already lost a few fighters — will remain in tact. It could simply be the promotion’s way of sending it off in style with one big “champion vs. champion” showdown.
Plus, it could provide UFC’s next “champ-champ” should Dillashaw prove victorious.
T.J. has been clamoring for a chance to compete for the 125-pound title since defending his 135-pound strap against Cody Garbrandt at UFC 227. Of course, “Viper” had a different opponent in mind at the time. Still, T.J. was very open to fighting Henry, as well, and will now get his chance at history, much to the chagrin of the 135-pound division, I’m sure.
As for Cejudo, the fight will give him the chance to defend his title at least once and perhaps secure himself a guaranteed title shot at 135 pounds should he take out T.J. Either way, fight fans will be in for one hell of a title fight to kick of UFC’s PPV venture in 2019.
Early predictions?