For the better part of a year, former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champ-champ Henry Cejudo has been calling for the promotion to give him a chance to win his third title in as many divisions by facing Featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski.
His campaigning intensified over the last two weeks after Max Holloway was forced out of his scheduled trilogy title fight against Volkanovski, leaving a slot open for a willing contender to step in.
In the end, Chan Sung Jung was given the chance to fight for the strap, which will now take place at UFC 273 on April 9, 2022, leaving many other contenders upset, Cejudo included. But if you ask “The Great,” giving Cejudo — who has been retired for a year and a half now — a title shot in a division he’s never competed in never made sense.
To top it off, the promotion never once mentioned “Triple C” as a viable option.
“Look mate, the UFC never brought up his name, ever. It was never mentioned to me and it was never even close to an option,” said Volkanovski on a recent appearance on The MMA Hour. “So how am I going to take it serious of the UFC don’t take it serious?
“I like Henry Cejudo, he’s got great skills. You’ve done great things in other division’s And you’re retired, so it just didn’t make any sense,” he added. “I don’t mind the guy. He is a good guy and I have heard a couple of his interviews, he’s got the skills and gameplans and I have got respect for Henry. But, yeah there no sense wasting much energy on him.”
UFC president Dana White has shot down Cejudo’s pleas repeatedly, sharing Volkanovksi’s sentiment that awarding him a title fight in a new weight class after such a lengthy layoff simply didn’t line up with the promotion’s vision.
In the midst of it all, Cejudo somehow dragged Conor McGregor into the mix which prompted “Notorious” to fire back and start and all out Twitter war between two of UFC’s former double champions.
For future reference, Volkanovski doesn’t rule out ever fighting Cejudo down the line, as long as the timing and financial aspects of it is right.