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Dana White Says Henry Cejudo Needs to Defend the Flyweight Title Next Against Joseph Benavidez

August 21, 2019 | Posted by Jeffrey Harris
Henry Cejudo UFC 238, Dana White

Speaking to reporters this week after the Contender Series (via MMA Fighting), UFC President Dana White talked about the status of the UFC flyweight division and champion Henry Cejudo. Cejudo currently holds both the UFC flyweight and bantamweight titles. However, he’s currently out and dealing with an injury. Below are some highlights for White discussing the topic.

Since Cejudo won his second UFC title, there have been a lot of questions on what will happen in the flyweight division. Its future has been a question mark for a while, and many current UFC flyweights are in limbo, such as UFC flyweight and former title contender Joseph Benavidez. Benavidez is on a three-fight winning streak and is the last man to gain a win over Cejudo, which was before Cejudo won the flyweight title.

White on wanting Cejudo to defend the flyweight title next: “Right now, we have some things playing out at 135 pounds. What we’d like to see Cejudo do is defend his title against [Joseph] Benavidez. Benavidez is ready. It’s the right thing to do. If he can’t, then he needs to give up one of the belts.”

Dana White on why Cejudo needs to defend the title: “He needs to defend that [flyweight] title. First of all, we’re playing some things out to see who’s going to be the next challenger at 35. Benavidez is ready to go. He deserves it and he’s got a win over Cejudo.”

In the past, Cejudo has expressed wanting to keep the flyweight division alive and defend both titles. White has been open to that scenario, but following his title win, Cejudo revealed his hit list of challengers he wants to face. He called out Dominick Cruz, Cody Garbrandt, and Urijah Faber for bantamweight.