Henry Cejudo has made it clear that the name, weight and even gender of his opponents doesn't matter to him in his pursuit of titles, prompting Olympic medalist and rising MMA star Kayla Harrison to fire back on social media.
Cejudo was, until recently, one of the few 'champ champs' to have dominated two separate weight divisions simultaneously before his UFC 125lbs championship was stripped from him in late 2019.
And the fighter formerly known as 'Triple C', a reference to his own Olympic gold and the two UFC titles he held, has reiterated his stance that he is chasing every world title he can, regardless of who the opponent is.
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Cejudo, who won his Olympic gold for the United States in wrestling in Beijing in 2008, has been sidelined with a shoulder injury since June - something which was the primary root for the flyweight title being removed from his waist.
But he has apparently identified his next target, the 7-0 judoka Harrison who competes under the Professional Fight League banner, recently winning a the promotion's lightweight championship, as well as a cool $1 million, in its end-of-year showpiece.
Also on rt.com Million-dollar woman: Kayla Harrison - dubbed 'the female Khabib' - wins PFL Championship & mega payday (VIDEO)Cejudo, known for his 'bend the knee' catchphrase, extended that same invitation on social media to Harrison, who didn't seem to be in the humor to play along.
Responding to a fan query on Twitter, Harrison clarified that she technically can lay claim to four world titles (one more than the three that Cejudo trumpeted) to which Cejudo replied, demanding that she 'sign the contract'.
Now, there is no contract on the table for numerous reasons - not least the fact that they both compete for rival promotions - but that didn't stop Cejudo from continuing his verbal sparring, with a putdown from Harrison to the 5ft 4in star that she would "tell you to bend the knee but you're already so close to the ground."
Cejudo's pursuit of numerous titles in different weight classes will likely be put on hold when he returns to fitness as several contenders in the UFC's bantamweight field have announced themselves as contenders in his absence.
Russia's Petr Yan and American fighter Aljamain Sterling are thought to be the two top contenders for a title shot, while former UFC champions Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar have also both recently confirmed their intentions to fight at bantamweight going forward.
Cejudo has previously stated that he intends to return to action in March or April.
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