Henry Cejudo says Benavidez ‘absolutely’ deserves rematch after Figueiredo ‘cheated’ at UFC Norfolk

Former UFC flyweight champion Henry Cejudo believes Joseph Benavidez deserves another shot against Deiveson Figueiredo for the vacant flyweight title.

In the main event of UFC Norfolk on February 29, the flyweights battled it out in a non title-fight. They were initially scheduled to fight for the 125 belt that was up for grabs after Cejudo was stripped. However the Brazilian “Daico” missed weight and was penalized by having his title eligibility removed. Despite missing weight, Figueiredo used a huge right hand (and potentially an inadvertent head butt) to secure the KO victory in the second round. He sits at the top of the division’s ranking, but the title Cejudo once held still remains empty.

Cejudo weighed in on the controversial non-title fight and called Figueiredo a “cheat” at the recent Dominance MMA media day.

.@HenryCejudo says @JoeJitsu absolutely deserves a rematch after Deiveson Figueiredo missed weight by 2.5 pounds at #UFCNorfolk:

"2.5 pounds is a lot of weight… It's an advantage. Figueiredo did cheat, man"

Watch full interview: https://t.co/97SVDJGfXX pic.twitter.com/xP5epttexK

— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) March 11, 2020

“I think it’s good [to rematch],” Cejudo said. “I think Joe does deserves it. It was unfortunate because Joe did lose, but Figueiredo didn’t win [because] there is a disadvantage. So, it’s not so much the 2.5 pounds of water that he had to get off, it’s the fatigue that comes with it. Two and a half pounds is a lot of weight man, even 0.5 is a lot. 0.2 at times at the highest levels? Super hard, so it’s an advantage man. So Figueiredo, he did cheat.”

Cejudo joked that he defended his flyweight title from his couch during the UFC Norfolk main event. When asked if he will recognize the new champion in a possible Joseph Benavidez vs. Deiveson Figueiredo rematch, he stated:

“I will forever be “Triple C”, Olympic champ, flyweight champion and bantamweight champion of the world. They can all get it. I’m one of one, I’m the real ‘BMF’.”

Do you agree with Henry Cejudo that Joseph Benavidez deserves a rematch against Deiveson Figueiredo for the flyweight title?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 3/11/2020.