With most of the bantamweight division’s top-ranked contenders already paired off, Petr Yan has his sights set on a fellow former world champion in Henry Cejudo.
Yan is looking for a big fight following his UFC 273 title unification loss to Aljamain Sterling in April. With Sterling targeted to defend against T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 279 in September — along with matchups including Jose Aldo vs. Merab Dvalishvili, Marlon Vera vs. Dominick Cruz, and Cory Sandhagen vs. Song Yadong all slated for future cards — “No Mercy” turned his attention to Cejudo, who is back in the USADA pool after ending his retirement.
Hey @HenryCejudo you talked a lot when you were “retired”. Now it’s time to back it up! pic.twitter.com/Hv1PEgJHFr
— Petr “No Mercy” Yan (@PetrYanUFC) June 18, 2022
“Hello Henry Cejudo! You talked a lot during your’retired’ days, Yan said. It’s now time to support it .”
Of course, to the surprise of very few, Cejudo responded to Yan’s challenge, which led to a skirmish between the two on social media.
Only if you had the gold I would have loved to have buried You should go back to Dagestan and learned more wrestling because you got outwrestled by Division III all American. It wouldn’t have been smart for you to take an Olympic champion after your loss. I’m after Gold hoe #Bendthekne https://t.co/lsANtEjBAW
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) June 18, 2022
The truth is you retired the day I became number 1 contender and unretired on the same day I ceased to be the champion. Now you ducking me again only proving those facts https://t.co/TuSEH7m1An
— Petr “No Mercy” Yan (@PetrYanUFC) June 18, 2022
And you lost to ALJOLAME twice. Do you think the Olympic champ 2 division UFC is going to play with sorry ass contenders. Your fat ass bold manger is going to get your hurt. I’ll give 20% off if you subscribe to my technique of the week. You know I’m getting the title shoot next https://t.co/YgY1QAfrb3
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) June 18, 2022
Cejudo announced his retirement after stopping Dominick Cruz in a successful title defense at UFC 249 in May 2020, citing he wanted to be paid what he felt he deserved. The UFC quickly moved on as Dana White announced at the post-fight press conference that Yan would fight for the vacant title in his next fight, which he captured two months later when he finished Jose Aldo in the fifth round at UFC 251.
