Several matchups between top bantamweights have been announced in the last few weeks, but Petr Yan appears focused on someone outside of the current UFC rankings.
Following his loss to Aljamain Sterling at UFC 273, Yan took to Twitter to call out the former bantamweight champion that preceded his own brief title reign.
Hey @HenryCejudo you talked a lot when you were “retired”. Now it’s time to back it up!
pic.twitter.com/Hv1PEgJHFr
— Petr “No Mercy” Yan (@PetrYanUFC) June 18, 2022
“Hey Henry Cejudo you talked a lot when you were ‘retired’. Now it’s time to back it up!”
“The Messenger” has never been shy about engaging on social media, so it’s no surprise that he quickly responded to the call out.
Only if you had the gold I would have loved to have buried
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) June 18, 2022
You should go back to Dagestan and learned more wrestling because you got outwrestled by Division III all American. That wouldn’t be smart of you taking an Olympic champ after that lose. I’m after Gold hoe
“Only if you had the gold I would have loved to have buried. You should go back to Dagestan and learned more wrestling because you got outwrestled by Division III all American. That wouldn’t be smart of you taking an Olympic champ after that loss. I’m after gold hoe #bendthekne”
Yan fired back by implying that Cejudo, who retired after defeating Dominick Cruz in a bantamweight title defense in 2020, left the sport just as “No Mercy” entered title contention.
“The truth is you retired the day I became number 1 contender and unretired on the same day I ceased to be the champion. Now you ducking me again only proving those facts”
Cejudo took the opportunity to not only criticize Yan, but also take a stab at current bantamweight champion Sterling.
“And you lost to ALJOLAME twice. Do you think the Olympic champ 2 eivision UFC is going to play with sorry ass contender. Your fat ass bold manager is going to get your hurt. I’ll give you 20% off if you subscribe to my technique of the week. You know I’m getting the title shoot next”
The 35-year-old Cejudo won the UFC flyweight belt in 2018 and defended it once before making a run at the vacant bantamweight title. He won that belt as well and made one successful title defense before retiring due to an apparent disagreement with what the UFC was paying him.
The Olympic gold medalist recently re-entered the USADA testing pool, which has naturally inspired discussion of a return to the cage.
Yan defeated José Aldo in 2020 for the bantamweight title Cejudo had vacated, but his first title defense ended in controversy when he illegally kneed challenger Aljamain Sterling and was disqualified. A victory over Cory Sandhagen secured an interim belt and title shot, but the 29-year-old ended up losing a split-decision in his rematch with Sterling at UFC 273.
What’s your reaction to this Twitter exchange between former champions Henry Cejudo and Petr Yan?
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