Henry Cejudo refused to give credit to rising bantamweight contender Mario Bautista earlier this week and it turned into a heated conversation about a potential fight.
The bantamweight division is one of the most stacked weight classes in mixed martial arts (MMA) right now and there is a long list of matchups that UFC could decide to book. Fight fans haven’t been calling for a 135-pound fight between Cejudo and Bautista, but after this week’s verbal war things could change heading into 2025.
In case you don’t know, Bautista is coming off a split-decision win over Jose Aldo his last time out. It was not an exciting fight to say the least, but the victory extended Bautista’s current win streak to seven. That’s good enough for the No. 10 ranking in the division and a chance to fight bigger and better competition his next time out.
Bautista ran into Cejudo earlier this week and decided to shoot his shot. The 31-year-old contender approached Cejudo and tried to pitch a potential fight inside of the Octagon. Cejudo, who is coming off a lopsided decision loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 298 earlier this year, had some concerns about a matchup with Bautista. In fact, the former UFC champion and Olympic gold medalist seemed to shut down the invitation because Bautista was “so damn boring” his last time out.
Of course, Cejudo went on to mention his own accolades before the two were finally split up. Check it out below courtesy of UFC lightweight fighter Drakkar Klose:
“Let’s do it,” said Cejudo.
“You got to say yes though,” responded Bautista.
“Can I tell you something?” asked Cejudo. “You can’t be so damn boring though. Nobody is going to fight you like that.”
“I won’t be boring against you,” said Bautista.
Cejudo, who turns 38 this February, remains one of the biggest targets in the UFC’s bantamweight division despite losing his last two fights. We’ll see if UFC can work some magic and get “Triple C” to agree to a fight against Bautista, who is 9-2 overall in his UFC career.