“Henry Didn’t Want to Fight No.1 Contenders”- Petr Yan Not Happy with Henry Cejudo’s Retirement

After securing a TKO win at UFC 249, Henry Cejudo walked away from the UFC. He beat Dominick Cruz who slid in as a short-notice replacement for Jose Aldo. Now, the Brazilian finds himself in the title fight against Petr Yan at UFC Fight Island. Ahead of the clash, Yan attacked ‘Triple C’ over his comments on the Joe Rogan experience and made a bold claim about the retired fighter. 

Petr Yan claims Henry Cejudo retired to avoid top competition 

In a chat with MMA Junkie as per Farah Hannoun’s article, Yan blames ‘The Messenger’ for higher-ranked contenders not getting the immediate title shot. 

He said, “Henry didn’t want to fight No. 1 contenders like me or Sterling. He even said it’s his fault Aldo is fighting for the title and it should’ve been me vs. Aljamain. So he admitted himself he wanted to fight someone who didn’t deserve to fight for the belt.”

Earlier, ‘Triple C’ said Aldo is only getting a title fight because of him. 

The Russian believed ‘Funk Master’ should stand across the Octagon from him. This is because he is the 2nd ranked contender and is coming off the back of an impressive first-round submission victory at UFC 250. However, the win came days after UFC President Dana White revealed the Aldo-Yan fight. 

Neither ‘No Mercy’ nor ‘Funk Master’ got the title shot against ‘The Messenger’ in his eleven-month reign. But, the fighter claimed that he had no hard feelings over not getting to fight Cejudo for the championship. 

“I don’t hate the guy and I’m not disappointed I won’t get to fight him, because my goal is to win the belt, and not to fight Cejudo, The division is booming right now and he retired without facing top contenders. If he had confidence he could clear out the division, he wouldn’t retire right now.”

‘No Mercy’ has a golden opportunity at UFC‘s maiden PPV on Fight Island. Can he win his 7th on the bounce in the UFC and claim the vacant Championship?

Also, do you feel Henry Cejudo quit to avoid facing top competition? Should he have beaten every single contender to stamp his absolute dominance at 135?