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Henry Cejudo may be retired from mixed martial arts (MMA), but he isn’t completely done with combat sports. According to the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champ-champ, he is trying to lock down a fight against boxing sensation, Ryan Garcia.
“Triple C” and Garcia — who is just 21 years old — started a confusing Twitter spat last month, which lead to Cejudo trying to secure the bout … and the bag. To here “The Messenger” tell it, the big-money bout could take place in Saudi Arabia in the near future.
“I think I’ve done everything in MMA, Olympic champ, flyweight champ, bantamweight champ, I’ve defended both of my titles,” Cejudo told TMZ via MMA Junkie. “I think the only one I want to do it is to make Ryan Garcia bend the knee.”
Undefeated at 20-0, Garcia started training since he was seven years old and made a splash in his pro debut at 17 by knocking out Edgar Meza in the very first round. Soon thereafter, “The Flash” signed with Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions and has gone on to win 15 of his bouts via knockout.
But despite the young contender’s impressive run, Cejudo is not all that impressed.
“I really don’t think he’s that good. I really don’t. I think with a proper team, the right game plan, I believe I could make him bend the knee in front of Oscar De La Hoya. I feel like I have the tools, the power, the strength, the experience, and we wanna make this happen, potentially in Saudi Arabia so we got the money guy.
“We got the money guy that’s willing to pay both of us. It’s just up to ‘Randy Candy’ Garcia to sign that contract.”
Cejudo’s aspirations aside, securing the fight could be kind of tricky, as Garcia has several boxing foes chomping at the bit for a fight including Devin Haney, Jorge Linares and super Featherweight and Lightweight champion, Gervontae Davis.
Nevertheless, “Triple C” — who walked away from MMA after knocking out Dominick Cruz at UFC 249 — is determined to add another title to his mantle by upsetting the current WBC Silver Lightweight champion.