Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
UFC president Dana White is open to granting Jose Aldo the next title shot against Henry Cejudo.
After a decade fighting as a featherweight and holding the title for the majority of that run, Jose Aldo made his bantamweight debut on Saturday against Marlon Moraes. It wasn’t a successful one, as the former long-time champion lost via split decision.
But even after this second straight loss, Dana White is seeing big things for Aldo. With the belief that he actually won the fight against Moraes, the UFC president is now looking to book Aldo to challenge 135-pound champion Henry Cejudo.
“I had Aldo winning that fight,” White told media members in a post-fight scrum.
“Henry Cejudo texted me tonight and said, “That’s bullsh-t, he didn’t lose that fight, he won that fight. And I want to treat him like he did.’ He wants to fight Jose Aldo.
“I don’t hate it,” he added.
White did say that top-ranked contender Petr Yan is also in the running, especially after knocking out Faber earlier in the night. But for him, Cejudo as the champion is calling the shots.
“Yan’s in there, too,” White said. “I’m just saying Cejudo says ‘I want Aldo.’ Cejudo is the man right now. If you look at what Cejudo has accomplished, if he says ‘I want Jose Aldo…’
“If that’s what he wants to do next, we could do it. I don’t have a problem with it. I’m sure people would want to see it.”
Cejudo has been hitting at Aldo for a while now, declaring himself as the “King of Rio” in his most recent social media banter.