Henry Cejudo says he'll fight ex-training partner for the right price
After it appeared Henry Cejudo’s next fight in the UFC would be against No. 1-ranked bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili, it appears the Serra-Longo disciple isn’t the only top fighter Cejudo has his sights set on.
Speaking to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Cejudo confessed that he’d be willing to settle some unfinished business with former training partner Brandon Moreno, the UFC flyweight champion, for the right price.
"If the UFC wants to show us the money after (his next) fight, if he does beat (Alexandre) Pantoja, that we do a showdown between me and him,” Cejudo said. “…There’s bad blood there. There’s a great storyline. Obviously he’s the baby face in the UFC. I’m the heel. Show me the money, let’s make it happen, baby.”
A Cejudo-Moreno flyweight title fight would likely be a big pay-per-view draw given the checkered past the two fighters share.
Cejudo was Moreno’s mentor years ago when he was new to mixed martial arts. And when Cejudo was picked to coach “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2016 opposite rival Joseph Benavidez, he had a chance to take Moreno with his first pick but instead chose Pantoja — Moreno’s opponent at UFC 290 on July 8.
After the show concluded, Moreno stopped training with Cejudo and jumped ship to Elevation Fight Team where Benavidez trained — a move that Cejudo personally took as a sign of betrayal.
"Trust me, I want a piece of him," Cejudo added. "I called him out the first time. I wanted to fight him after he went over with Joseph Benavidez and trained with him and didn’t tell me, and I had to find out through social media.”
Cejudo hasn’t fought at flyweight (125 pounds) since January 2019 when he defended his title against former champion T.J. Dillashaw. Cejudo won by first-round TKO.
The 36-year-old Olympian’s last three fights have all been at bantamweight (135 pounds), and he’s suggested the UFC would have to pay him handsomely to drop down a weight class to fight Moreno.
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