Getty Former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo.
Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping doesn’t like Henry Cejudo’s chances of becoming a three-division champion.
Cejudo, who captured the 135 and 125-pound titles, recently announced his mixed martial arts comeback. “Triple C” has made it clear that he wants to become the first fighter ever to win three divisional UFC belts.
That means he wants to capture Alexander Volkanovski’s featherweight championship. But, Bisping doesn’t think the five-foot-four combatant is “big” enough to compete at 145 pounds. That’s what he said in a recent YouTube video.
“Yes, great, dream big, the problem is you aren’t big,” Bisping said via MMA Junkie. “You’re not big enough to fight Alexander Volkanovski, I don’t believe so. You were a 125-er for a reason, you became the champion there. You stepped up to 135, that’s only a 10 pound increase. Stepping up to 45, that’s a 20 pound increase (and) when you’re a shorter guy that’s a large percent of your body weight and we saw a picture of him recently looking a little chubby, a little out of shape. Yes, he can get heavy, he can probably get up to 160, who knows? Even heavier, but is that your optimal weight?
“There’s a reason why he picked 125, there’s a reason why he went to 35. Making 125 was probably very hard, 35 was probably his natural weight (but) 45, things start to get out of the desired weight, out of the optimal point, where you’re carrying extra weight which is gonna slow you down which is ultimately gonna make you weaker. In the short term make you stronger, make you heavier but as the fight progresses and you’re getting tired and you’re carrying all that extra weight around your mid section and what not, that becomes a pain in the a**.”
Bisping Views Volkanovski as the ‘Man,’ Doesn’t See Cejudo Dethroning Him
Volkanovski recently defended his 145-pound title for the third time when he beat Chan Sung Jung during April 9th’s UFC 273 main event. “The Great” has a very impressive featherweight resume, beating ex-champions Max Holloway and Jose Aldo, as well as former top contenders like Brian Ortega and Chad Mendes.
Bisping praised Volkanovski as “the man,” and the former 185-pound champion said he doesn’t think Triple C is the fighter to dethrone the Australian.
“Alexander Volkanovski is the man,” Bisping continued. “He’s beaten Max Holloway twice, took out ‘Korean Zombie’ in style, made it look easy. Prior to that Brian Ortega, what a fight, what a performance. The man’s incredible. Volkanovski has a record of 23-1, I don’t think Henry Cejudo would be the guy.”
Cejudo Responded to Bisping’s Comments, Said He Will Prove Bisping Wrong
Cejudo took notice of fighter turned MMA analyst’s comments. Taking to Twitter, Triple C had a message for Bisping:
“I will prove you wrong hall of fame. @bisping I’m after everybody that doesn’t believe in C4.”
Triple C is one of the most accomplished combat sports athletes ever. Cejudo won a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. He’s the fighter in charge of taking longtime UFC flyweight king Demetrious Johnson’s flyweight belt.
Cejudo has also beaten the likes of longtime bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz and ex-135 pound champion TJ Dillashaw.