Dana rejects Henry Cejudo's challenge for third UFC belt: 'He's retired'

H. Cejudo (right) thanks D. White (left) after announcing his retirement, still in the Octagon. Photo: Reproduction/Twitter @HenryCejudo

UFC president, Dana White, did not welcome the challenge of the former flyweight (up to 56,7kg) and bantamweight (up to 61,2kg) champion, Henry Cejudo, to the current number one of featherweights (up to 65,7kg.), Alexander Volkanovsky. The 'big boss' considers the retirement of the North American definitive, who hung up his gloves after defeating Dominick Cruz, in May of this year.

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"He is retired. I did another interview where people asked me about other retired fighters. They are out. I'm not even thinking about those guys. There are a lot of kids now who are here who want to fight. It is on them that I am focused”, said the president in a press conference after the UFC Las Vegas 3.

Cejudo announced his retirement from the sport after making history and beating one of the biggest names in the history of UFC bantamweights, in the UFC 249. At the time, the now former fighter stated that he was satisfied with his career and wanted to rest after a lifetime dedicated to competitions (wrestling and MMA).

It didn't take long, however, for Henry to impose conditions so that he could put on the organization's gloves again. The athlete stated that he wants to engrave his name in the history of the sport by being the only fighter in the organization to hold three titles in different divisions.

“I want the third title because I want to be different. There are many double champions. Obviously there is only one 'Triple C'. There is only one Olympic, flyweight and bantamweight champion in the world, but this is just to cement me in the history books as the greatest martial arts fighter of all time”, said Cejudo in an interview with 'TMZ'.

Recently, Cejudo recorded images in which he participated in training with the boxing legend, Mike Tyson and the MMA icon, Vitor belfort. The athlete improves his stand-up game with the athletes and takes seriously the strategy of trying something new within the UFC.