“It’s For Publicity”- Joseph Benavidez Dismisses Henry Cejudo’s Claims of a Flyweight Return

Joseph Benavidez remains the last man to beat Henry Cejudo in a fight. It came in 2016 at ‘The Ultimate Fighter: Tournament of Champions Finale.’ ‘The Messenger’ won his next 2 fights before claiming the Flyweight Championship in 2018. Later he moved to Bantamweight and claimed the title there as well. The following year, he vacated the Flyweight title but constantly hints at returning.

In his Tweet last month he wrote, “I’m coming back down to take all their headsheads!”

“Henry Cejudo is not going back to Flyweight”- Joseph Benavidez

‘Joey Two Times’ isn’t paying attention to any of ‘The Messenger’s comments.

He told MMA Fighting, “You can’t pay that any mind. I mean look at half the things Henry says. It’s for publicity and he does a great job at it. I don’t mind the schtick. I’m glad he found his niche. It’s funny. It’s good for the people that he’s fighting, me included. He’s an incredible competitor but on this, my stance is he doesn’t mean it. It’s just something else he’s saying. It was the right time. The flyweights were fighting, he had the title stripped, the easiest time to say that.”

He says he had to wait so long for the title fight as ‘The Messenger’ was just talking and had no intention of actually doing as he said. 

“So this is another thing he’s saying. Building it up, getting people excited, prolong a few things. I don’t know if he thinks he’s going to get the belt back or whatever. It’s just more stuff he’s saying for promotion.”

‘The Messenger’ was set to defend his Bantamweight Title against Jose Aldo. However, the Coronavirus travel restrictions have scuppered the fight. ‘Triple C’ had trash-talked Aldo a lot. However, he wasted no time in attacking his new challenger Dominick Cruz. 

‘The Dominator’ will make his long-awaited return to the Octagon on the May 9th event. This may be held at the UFC Apex. Will he win his first fight back in almost 40 months?

Also, will ‘The Messenger’ find time to reply to Benavidez and ask him to “Bend the Knee?” It should be quite entertaining if he does so.