Petr Yan on Henry Cejudo’s wish to fight Jose Aldo: ‘It will be another hit to the sport of MMA’

Petr Yan thought he’d done enough to secure the next shot at Henry Cejudo’s bantamweight title following a win over divisional great Urijah Faber at UFC 245.

But as UFC President Dana White revealed at the post-fight press conference, the champion is instead vying for a shot at Jose Aldo, even though the Brazilian came up short in his bantamweight debut in meeting with Marlon Moraes at the pay-per-view event this past Saturday.

Baffled by Cejudo’s statements, Yan insists that he has no respect for the man who currently sits at the top of the bantamweight bracket.

“I don’t respect Cejudo at all,” Yan told MMA Fighting. “His decision to ask for Aldo is not worthy of a champion. You want to fight someone who’s on a losing streak and not at the peak of his career. You are the champion, and you have to defend your title against the deserving No. 1 contender; you shouldn’t call out someone who just lost. Cejudo is a joke and just showed his true colors.”

Yan sees Cejudo’s calls for a showdown with Aldo as proof that he is trying to avoid him.

“You all can see that ‘Triple Clown’ is trying to avoid the fight with me,” he said. “He’s even afraid to mention my name. All I see is his mental weakness now. Let’s do it if you consider yourself a champion – try to prove that I’m wrong.”

He insisted that the credibility of the UFC will take a hit if Cejudo vs. Aldo gets booked.

“If UFC books Cejudo vs. Aldo, I won’t be happy about it, just like millions of real fans around the world. It will be another hit to the sport of MMA. I don’t see anything compelling in that fight. UFC belts will lose their legitimacy if this will continue to happen,” said Yan.

This week, Eurobash looked forward to a big year in 2020 for European MMA and Petr Yan.