Former two-weight UFC champion, Henry Cejudo has suggested a potential lightweight title-eliminator between former interim division champion, Justin Gaethje and Beneil Dariush for UFC 288 in two weeks’ time, as the latte now finds hismelf qithout an opponent for the Newark, New Jersey card.
Cejudo, a former undisputed flyweight and bantamweight champion, returns to the Octagon for the first time following his 2020 retirement from active competition atop the pay-per-view event in the opening week of May – taking on undisputed bantamweight titleholder, Aljamain Sterling.
Initially, the flagship event in ‘The Garden State’ was slated to featured a high-stakes, title-eliminator between former champion, Charles Oliveira, and the above-mentioned surging contender, Dariush, however, a minor injury forced the former from proceedings.
The Sao Paulo native confirmed his intentions to potentially return to the Octagon the following month at UFC 289 in British Columbia, Canada, with Dariush receptive to the rebooking. However, as far as Cejudo is concerned, the Iranian should be matched up with former training partner, Justin Gaethje on short notice rather than remain sidelined.
“You guys want to have a great co-main event on a great card – why not Justin Gaethje?” Henry Cejudo said on his YouTube channel. “I guarantee you Justin Gaethje will step in. Do him vs. (Beneil) Dariush, [the] winner gets a title shot. There’s something that needs to be done and I do believe people need to do something to really step up if they really want to be that next person because if not, a whole damn year goes by and then you’re talking about who they’re gonna fight next.”
“As a competitor, if I was in that position I’d be the first person to raise my hand,” Cejudo continued. “‘Hey, I’m here to step up.’”
Justin Gaethje most recently featured just last month at UFC 286
Recently featuring in the co-main event of UFC 286 just last month in London, Arizona contender, Gaethje managed to halt the run of Rafael Fiziev with a back-and-forth majority decision victory.
As for Dariush, the Kings MMA staple has been sidelined since he landed another impressive victory at UFC 280 last October, defeating Polish contender, Mateusz Gamrot in a unanimous decision over the course of three rounds.
Following the cancellation of the UFC 288 co-headliner, the likes of Gilbert Burns has offered to fight former interim champion, Dustin Poirer in a welterweight affair on short-notice.
And one-time middleweight title challenger, Paulo Costa has offered to return to the light heavyweight limit for a brief excursion against former undisputed champion, Jan Blachowicz at the Prudential Center event.