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Joseph Benavidez Says He Was Warranted In Not Liking Henry Cejudo

December 3, 2016 | Posted by Joseph Lee

In an interview with MMA Junkie, Joseph Benavidez spoke about his time coaching against Henry Cejudo during The Ultimate Fighter 24. The two will fight tonight at the TUF 24 Finale from The Pearl at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. It airs on FOX Sports 1 after preliminary fights on UFC Fight Pass. Here are highlights:

On coaching opposite Cejudo: “I just realized not liking him was warranted. I went on and I was maybe like, ‘Alright, maybe this guy is not going to be bad or whatever. We’re going to compete, I’m going to see him for six weeks.’ I went on and was like, ‘Yeah, I definitely don’t like this guy for a reason.’ We’re total opposites, I feel. The thing about the show is we were worried about eight other guys succeeding, not necessarily our fight. We’re in a competition with coaches’ challenge, you want to pick the better guys, you want your fighters to win. That’s all great and I feel I buried him in every aspect of the show, my team did, anyway. But it was all a watered down version of a competition.”

On proving himself tonight: “I feel I’m always number one contender. I’m always the next guy in line. Skill-wise I could fight D.J. any night and it’d be an amazing fight. I feel like I can beat him any given night as well. It’s not really a thing about skill, it’s about going out and making other people think it’s a number one contender fight.”

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Joseph Benavidez, Joseph Lee