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Not only is Henry Cejudo not retiring, he already has his next opponent in mind.

In a YouTube video released Monday, Cejudo called for a fight with fellow former flyweight champion Brandon Moreno that would take place at UFC 306, which is set to be hosted at Sphere in Las Vegas. Both fighters are currently on two-fight losing streaks with no clear path back to a title shot, so Cejudo is drawing upon their shared history to hype up a potential grudge match.

“What fight would be better than ‘Triple C,’ the Mexican-American, vs. the true Mexican and they come together and they do a five-round showdown at the Sphere in Las Vegas for Mexican Independence Day,” Cejudo said. “I like it. If there’s any way that we should settle it, enough talking, enough cringe, and enough antics, and enough all of that, the only way to get it on Brandon Moreno is I accept your challenge. Let’s do it Mexican Independence Day, what you got? You sign that contract, are you a Mexican or a ‘Mexi-can’t.’”

“I think we should settle it,” he continued. “I think it’s time to settle it. … I think the storyline’s there, I think the history’s there, I think you have two former champions that have lost and that are now coming together to put on one of the greatest showdowns in UFC history. I’m just waiting for the call. Brandon Moreno, I’m going to finish this again. I want to fight you, I want to hurt you. I think we owe it to each other, I think we owe it to the fans. This is too good for this to not take place.”

Cejudo added that he would prefer the fight take place at bantamweight, but would be open to a flyweight bout if the price was right.

The relationship between Cejudo and Moreno has seen several ups and downs, with the two first training together nearly a decade ago. Moreno was part of Cejudo’s team ahead of the Olympic gold medalist’s first fight with then-champion Demetrious Johnson and they worked together frequently in the years following. However, a rift formed when Cejudo served as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter 24 opposite Joseph Benavidez, who ended up having Moreno on his team of flyweight fighters.

That led to Moreno and Benavidez training together for Benavidez’s December 2016 fight against Cejudo. Benavidez went on to defeat Cejudo via split decision and the whole situation rubbed Cejudo the wrong way.

“I discovered that the dude had been training in Denver, Colorado, with Joseph Benavidez and Team Alpha Male or team whatever to help Joseph Benavidez to beat me,” Cejudo said. “I was a guy who opened up my home, not just for [Moreno] but also for his family. I was a guy that was able to corner him too for his last five fights prior to him jumping into the UFC. Talk about a close relationship, so I think once I saw that I’m just like, damn, I get it.”

Cejudo said that he and Moreno were then booked to fight in the main event of a Mexico City card in 2017, but Moreno wasn’t interested.

“I said, ‘Hey man, let’s fight, dude,’” Cejudo said. “‘I think the only way that we’re both going to be able to respect each other once again is if we’re able to fight, if we’re able to kind of put these politics aside.’ Me, I felt like as an older bother, because we did become tight, I wanted to kind of beat him up. I kind of wanted to beat up my little brother for a little bit and it still didn’t mean that I didn’t have that love for him, but I’ll never forget it, because this is kind of where it stopped. This is kind of where I let that s*** go. … I just told him, ‘Let’s fight.’

“I’ll never forget what he told me, because he said, ‘Henry, te quiero mucho para pelar contigo. I’ve got too much love to fight you.’ And when he told me, I kind of understood, because it’s like, you helped me train for this guy. We did a lot of things together. We go to practice, we come home beat up with black eyes and still be friends and be acting like normal beings. Once that happened, I was just like, alright, it’s game over.”

The fight would not only be a major addition to the UFC 306 card, it could prove to be a pivotal one for Cejudo and Moreno at this stage of their careers.

Cejudo has lost two straight since ending a three-year hiatus from competition, dropping a close split decision loss to Aljamain Sterling in a bantamweight title fight and then losing to Merab Dvalishvili. Moreno is coming off of back-to-black split decision losses to Alexandre Pantoja and Brandon Royval, the former of which ended his second flyweight title reign.

Given their recent struggles, Cejudo thinks it just makes sense for he and Moreno to test each other.

“He didn’t look like the same Brandon,” Cejudo said of Moreno’s loss to Royval at UFC Mexico City. “It was almost like my fight with Merab, we just didn’t look the same. I think if there’s one thing that me and Brandon Moreno have in common it’s that we both looked like s*** on this Saturday and the last one that just took place with myself.”

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Ryan Garcia wants a piece of Sean O’Malley inside the octagon.

During an appearance on The MMA Hour, Garcia boldly declared that he is eager to challenge the UFC’s reigning bantamweight champion in MMA as opposed to boxing. Garcia sports a 24-1 (20 KOs) record in boxing and has a highly anticipated bout with Devin Haney coming up on April 20, but he is confident that he can step into O’Malley’s world and be victorious.

“I’ll beat his ass in MMA guaranteed,” Garcia said. “I’m a natural, you don’t understand. I’m a natural wrestler. I just beat my security that’s a wrestler, I beat him. I’m strong and I’ve got crazy conditioning.”

Garcia and O’Malley have publicly gone back and forth about the possibility of a boxing match, though O’Malley also has an important fight coming up. He defends his title for the first time at UFC 299 in a rematch against Marlon Vera, the only man to defeat him in MMA so far.

Several MMA stars have made lucrative jumps from the cage to the ring, most notably Conor McGregor when he fought Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2017, and just this past October when Francis Ngannou went the distance against Tyson Fury. Neither McGregor nor Ngannou had their hands raised in their boxing debuts, but Garcia believes that he’s qualified to successfully pull off the crossover.

“That’s already been done,” O’Malley said of setting up a boxing match against O’Malley. “I know I’m going to knock him out in boxing, that’s not even fair. What is fair is to test myself in MMA because I know if I put my mind to it and I trained every day, and I had Nate [Diaz] helping me, even Alex Pereira, all of them, and I really locked in, he will not beat me.

“I will come with everything I have and I will destroy Sean O’Malley. In the UFC.”

According to Garcia, it’s not just talk. He claims that he has already put out feelers for the matchup and contacted UFC CEO Dana White.

“I’ve already sent text messages to Dana,” Garcia said. “I’ve already got people that are connected to Dana to ask him, let’s do this. I’ll come to UFC, pay me a bag, I’m there. I’m down to do it after Devin Haney.

“All I know is, Dana, hit me back, I’m trying to beat Sean O’Malley’s ass.”

At 25, Garcia has already become one of boxing’s most talked-about stars, establishing a massive following on social media and winning his first 23 pro bouts before getting stopped by Gervonta Davis last April. “King Ryan” rebounded with an eighth-round knockout of Oscar Duarte eight months later.

O’Malley has experienced a similar rise to fame since being signed out of the UFC’s Contender Series in 2017. He won the UFC bantamweight title this past August with a second-round knockout of Aljamain Sterling, which pushed him to another level of stardom. Garcia sees moneymaking potential in the matchup and insisted that there’s no beef between O’Malley and him.

“I mean, he’s been calling me out for a while,” Garcia said. “He called me out first, let’s put that on the record. Second, he tried to claim my theme song, Superstar. I came out with that way before he even thought of it. I actually came out with Lupe Fiasco myself. Don’t let people gas you up, brother, I came up with that, you did not. You’re just a walking Conor McGregor Jr.

“Everything is based off that. Now he’s coming into his own, but it was all Conor. He got the tattoo in the middle of his chest, the only difference is he painted his hair rainbow.”

Garcia complimented O’Malley’s fighting style, calling it “actually really dope,” but nothing he’s seen from “Sugar” is putting him off from his request to duel O’Malley under MMA rules.

He’s even willing to do it this year after he’s settled his business with Haney. Ideally, he will win that fight and then consult a dream team of MMA fighters in the lead-up to the fight, including Conor McGregor.

“I’m down for that,” Garcia said. “Next. Just give me three or four months of just MMA training, I’ll go beat his ass.

“I told Nate to train me a little bit. I would even ask Conor to let me train with him for a little bit. Every month would be a new coach: Conor, Alex Pereira, Nate, and just somebody else. That would be sick.”

MMA Fighting – All Posts

Former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo and former two-time flyweight titleholder Brandon Moreno are coming off back-to-back losses.  Moreno was defeated by Brandon Royval in the UFC Fight Night 237 main event on Saturday.

Cejudo came out of retirement in May 2023 losing to Aljamain Sterling via split decision.  At UFC 298 on Feb. 17, Cejudo lost to Merab Dvalishvili.  Following Moreno’s loss to Royval in the rematch, Cejudo called out “The Assassin Baby.”

Cejudo and Moreno used to train together, but when Moreno helped prepare Joseph Benevidez to fight Cejudo their relationship soured.  “That’s when it somewhat became personal,” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel.

“What fight would be better than Triple C, Brandon Moreno, the Mexican-American versus the true Mexican, and they come together, and they do a five round showdown at the Sphere, in Las Vegas for Mexican Independence Day,” Cejudo continued.  

“I like it. I think [if] there’s any way we should settle it, enough talking, enough cringing, enough antics, and enough all of that. The only way to get it on, Brandon Moreno, is I accept your challenge. Let’s do it, Mexican Independence Day. What you got? You gonna sign that contract? Are you a Mexican, or a Mexican’t?”

“I think we should settle it.  It think it’s time to settle it.  I think Dana White, I think the storyline is there.  I think the history is there.  I think you have two former champions that have lost and are now coming together to put one of the greatest showdowns in UFC history.  I’m just waiting for the call.  I’m just waiting on the call.  Brandon Moreno, I’m going to finish this again.  I want to fight you.  I want to hurt you.  I think we owe it to each other.  I think we owe it to the fans.  This is too good for this to not take place.”    

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UFC

Shamil Gaziev has quickly entered an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) main event spotlight.

After a raucous event in Mexico City, UFC returns to its compact and cozy APEX Facility venue in Las Vegas. Taking center stage atop the line up will be the pair of Heavyweights, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and the undefeated 12-0 prospect, Gaziev.

Gaziev made his promotional debut against Martin Buday at UFC 296 in December 2023. The Contender Series contract winner finished his opposition with a second round technical knockout and now could find himself in the division’s Top 15 come next week. Despite Rozenstruik’s current spot at No. 12 in the rankings, fans have been vocally upset with UFC Vegas 87 and its main event, which confuses the rising prospect.

“I don’t understand the hate, first they say Heavyweight need a new blood, and when new blood comes through they’re complaining,” Gaziev tweeted. “Just watch [eyes emoji] and enjoy [smiley face emoji]”

With only one decision on his record thus far, the 34-year-old Gaziev has been a consistent finisher and has momentum on his side against a rebound-seeking “Bigi Boy.” Rozenstruik last fought in a losing effort against new top contender, Jailton Almeida, when he fell short via a first round rear-naked choke in May 2023.

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 87 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance (also on ESPN+) at 4 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 87: “Rozenstruik vs. Gaziev” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Brian Ortega may have punched his ticket to a third title shot.

Despite coming off a 19-month layoff, Ortega pulled off a sensational win this past Saturday at UFC Mexico City, submitting Yair Rodriguez with a third-round arm-triangle choke after overcoming a freak ankle injury and rocky first round. But was it enough to shortcut the line to featherweight contention? In opening odds released Monday by BetOnline, Ortega is the betting favorite to be the opponent for Ilia Topuria’s first defense of his new UFC title.

Ortega opened at +150 odds to be Topuria’s next opponent, meaning a $ 100 bet will net $ 150 in winnings if Ortega gets the fight. Closely trailing Ortega is the man Topuria knocked out to win the belt, former UFC featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski (+200), as well as top contenders Movsar Evloev (+425), Max Holloway (+600), and Yair Rodriguez (+900). Former two-division champ Conor McGregor (+2500) also appeared as a longshot pick.

Topuria’s first title defense is expected to take place in the second half of 2024, potentially in his home country of Spain, where Topuria has been received as a superstar.

Check out the opening odds below, as well as odds for the hypothetical matchup of PFL heavyweights Francis Ngannou vs. Renan Ferreira, plus whether McGregor fights in 2024.

Ilia Topuria’s Next Opponent

• Brian Ortega: 3/2 (+150)
• Alexander Volkanovski: 2/1 (+200)
• Movsar Evloev: 17/4 (+425)
• Max Holloway: 6/1 (+600)
• Yair Rodriguez: 9/1 (+900)
• Conor McGregor: 25/1 (+2500)

PFL Heavyweight Fight

• Renan Ferreira: +250 (5/2)
• Francis Ngannou: -300 (1/3)

Will Conor McGregor Fight In UFC In 2024?

• Yes: -130
• No: -110

MMA Fighting – All Posts

If Ryan Garcia gets to fight Sean O’Malley inside the Octagon, Oscar De La Hoya hopes to snag a spot on the card against Dana White.

During Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Garcia called out the reigning UFC bantamweight champion, claiming that he would hand ‘Sugar’ an ass-whooping inside the Octagon if given the opportunity. Soon after, De La Hoya — Garcia’s promoter — stepped into the studio and angled for an opportunity to fight the UFC CEO in some kind of a potential boxing vs. MMA supercard.

“I would actually entertain that because Ryan can fight in the main event and maybe I can [fight] Dana in the co-main” De La Hoya said when speaking about Garcia’s challenge to O’Malley.

The feud between Dana White and Oscar De La Hoya dates back to 2017 when the UFC boss was in the middle of co-promoting Conor McGregor’s clash with Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather. De La Hoya said the bout was “disrespecting the sport of boxing,” which clearly didn’t sit well with White. In 2021, White called De La Hoya a “crackhead” on X (then Twitter) and accused him of using COVID as an excuse to bow out of a boxing match with MMA legend Vitor Belfort.

Since then, De La Hoya has extended an olive branch to White, hoping that they could eventually squash their long-standing rivalry. Asked about his relationship with the UFC CEO, ‘The Golden Boy’ told Helwani:

“We’re cool. It’s all good. Well, I don’t know if we’re cool. I haven’t talked to the guy. I’m good, but that doesn’t mean we can’t go at it.”

Dana White echoed the same “we’re cool” sentiment in 2022 but made it clear that the two would never be friends again.

“I feel like De La Hoya’s apology was sincere, but there’s no way that he and I can ever be friends again,” White said during a fan Q&A with GQ Sports. “He and I were actually friends. I used to go to his fights. I used to watch his fights. I used to promote his fights. That guy did way too much damage for us to ever be friends again. I appreciate his apology. I get it. We’re cool, but we’re never going to be that cool” (h/t Bleacher Report).

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