Cejudo-Moraes in Twitter War After Dillashaw News
What’s next for the UFC bantamweight division following T.J. Dillashaw’s surrendering of the 135-pound title is unknown, but various fighters are trying to make their claim for a fight for the vacant title.
One fighter in particular who’s out to stake a claim to the division’s title is Henry Cejudo, the current UFC flyweight champion. Cejudo retained his title against Dillashaw a couple of months ago at UFC Brooklyn, and rumors had that a rematch was being planned, only this time Cejudo was to be the one to move up in weight and challenge for Dillashaw’s title.
Now with Dillashaw no longer champion, Cejudo told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani he’ll wait to see what the UFC does next and referred to the bantamweight division as the “Cejudoweight” division.
Another quote from my chat w/ @HenryCejudo:
“I’m the biggest name now. I hold all the cards. It ain’t the flyweight division or the bantamweight division it’s the Cejudoweight division. So I will just wait and see what the UFC has planned for the Cejudoweight division.”
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) March 20, 2019
That name did not sit well with Marlon Moraes, who sits at the top of the flyweight rankings and was slated for a title shot after defeating Raphael Assuncao last month at UFC Fortaleza. Moraes, who shares Ali Abdelaziz as a manager with Cejudo, expressed to Helwani confidence he’ll be selected for the next title fight, while adding advice to Cejudo: “stay in your lane.”
Spoke to @MMARLONMORAES tonight about today’s news and what it means for him. He seems confident he’ll get the call to fight for the vacant title. pic.twitter.com/HKz6VKcdZo
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) March 21, 2019
What resulted next was a Twitter exchange between the pairing, taking shots at one another. Cejudo warned that if he could knock out “a PED user,” in 32 seconds, he could take out Moraes and poked fun at his reign as bantamweight champion in World Series of Fighting (WSOF, now the PFL). Meanwhile, Moraes advised Cejudo to “stay humble” and warning the flyweight champ he’ll strike out worse than he did with WWE’s Nikki Bella, Cejudo’s celebrity crush.
I was the youngest Olympic gold medalist. I am the UFC flyweight champion and I just knocked out a PED user in 32 seconds. You think I’m afraid of a World Series of Fighting former champion? Lol https://t.co/cxlm6Xevg9
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) March 21, 2019
Stay humble my friend take care of your business I will take care of mine or You’ll strike out with me worse than you did with that WWE girl #bantamweightdivision
— Marlon Moraes (@MMARLONMORAES) March 21, 2019
Oh look at the WSOF champ acting all tough now. Good one Magic Man did Ali write that one for you?
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) March 21, 2019
Original Story: MMAJunkie