Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Once UFC President Dana White rubber-stamped the main event between Israel Adesanya and Yoel Romero, which goes down at UFC 248 next month in Las Vegas, Nevada, it was pretty clear that any logic preventing Jose Aldo from fighting Henry Cejudo for the 135-pound strap went right out the window.
UFC is now Strikeforce, where fights are made between the biggest (not the most deserving) names in hopes of a big return at the box office.
White recently told ESPN that Cejudo vs. Aldo will headline the UFC 250 pay-per-view (PPV) event, scheduled for Sat., May 19, 2020 inside Ginasio do Ibirapuera in Sao Paulo, Brazil, with “Triple C” putting his bantamweight title on the line.
Cejudo (15-2) turned the 125-pound division on its head with his upset win over Demetrious Johnson at UFC 227. For an encore, “Triple C” put TJ Dillashaw down for the count before jumping up to bantamweight to thrash Marlon Moraes and capture the 135-pound title at UFC 238.
The flyweight strap has since been vacated and is up for grabs this weekend in Norfolk.
As for Aldo (28-6), he silenced his weight-cutting critics with a commanding performance against the aforementioned Moraes at UFC 245 last December; however, the judges awarded “Magic” the split-decision win. “Junior” is 0-1 at 135 pounds and has now dropped three of his last five.
But hey, he’s a UFC veteran and the country of Brazil will turn out, so why not?
UFC 250 will also feature the heavyweight showdown between Fabricio Werdum and Alexey Oleinik, while longtime light heavyweight veterans, Mauricio Rua and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, complete their trilogy at 205 pounds.