Cejudo names ‘winnable’ opponent for McGregor in UFC return

Henry Cejudo speaks with the media at the UFC Seasonal Press Conference on April 12, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. | Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Henry Cejudo thinks Conor McGregor should fight T…


UFC Seasonal Press Conference
Henry Cejudo speaks with the media at the UFC Seasonal Press Conference on April 12, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. | Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Henry Cejudo thinks Conor McGregor should fight Tony Ferguson in his UFC return.

Henry Cejudo thinks Conor McGregor needs to fight a “winnable” opponent before he starts taking on the likes of Charles Oliveira and Kamaru Usman.

McGregor is 1-3 in his last four fights and is expected to be out of action for the remainder of the year as he rehabilitates his broken leg suffered at the hands of Dustin Poirier in their trilogy bout at UFC 264.

‘The Notorious’ has named Usman as a potential opponent for his comeback fight but ‘Triple C’ thinks that would be a big mistake.

Cejudo thinks McGregor would be much better off returning to the lightweight division and facing Tony Ferguson, who is on a four-fight losing streak.

“I like the Tony Ferguson fight for him, I think that fight is winnable for Conor,” Cejudo said on a recent episode of The Triple C and Schmo podcast (h/t Sportskeeda). “He cannot be taking these high-level competitions. He’s gonna get hurt… I think, go up to Tony and then of course he’s a cash cow. Give him whoever he wants at 150 or 170. I think he needs to get his feet wet. Atleast f*****g win man, win a damn fight.”

Ferguson last fought at UFC 274 where he was knocked out by Michael Chandler with a perfectly-executed front kick to the face. The Ultimate Fighter 13 winner used to be under the same management as McGregor at Paradigm Sports and claims the organization prevented him from fighting the latter in the past.

Ferguson parted ways with Paradigm Sports in 2019 and “would love to fight Conor” now that he is represented by a different company.

“I would love to fight Conor if he still has his academy by my spot because that’s what he ended up doing. He ended up opening up an academy right near me. My neighbors come up to me and they’re like, ‘Hey, do you know that Conor is right next to you?’ I crack up because that’s how he is. The dude is so unhappy that he has to copy everybody’s stuff to find happiness. And maybe he’s doing it on purpose. Maybe it’s because he admires me and what I do.”

Ferguson is currently #9 in the UFC lightweight rankings while McGregor, the former champ-champ, is #8.