Morning Report: Dana White not keen on Henry Cejudo vs. Alexander Volkanovski: ‘It’s a tough conversation’

For over a year now, former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo has been campaigning for a title shot against featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. Following Volkanovski’s hard fought win over Brian Ortega at UFC 266, Cejudo renewed his calls to face the champ, imploring UFC President Dana White to “allow me to make history.” Unfortunately for Cejudo, it appears those calls have fallen on deaf ears.

“Listen, he retired,” White said during the Contender Series press conference last night. “You’ve been off all this time and now you want to come back and fight Volkanovski and jump the line and jump over Max and all these other guys that have been there? It’s a tough conversation.”

Cejudo retired last May after successfully defending his bantamweight title against Dominick Cruz at UFC 249, in part because he felt he wasn’t being paid enough by the UFC. However, with Volkanovski winning the featherweight title, the opportunity to potentially become the UFC’s first three-division champion has been a powerful lure on Cejudo.

Volkanovski, for his part, has shown little interest in the matchup, saying that Cejudo does not deserve to jump the line at 145 pounds. However, after his win at UFC 266, Volkanovski did allow that he is looking to fight regularly and so it’s possible Cejudo could slip in somewhere. As a result, some fans have become enamored with the idea, but when Dana White was pressed on the question, he didn’t seem any more interested.

“So you think I should do it?” White asked. “Okay, I’ll take that into consideration.”

But as much as White may want to brush the questions aside, it doesn’t seem like Cejudo or his team intend to let the issue die. Shortly after White’s statements, Cejudo’s manager Ali Abdelaziz responded to White on Twitter

Even with his team consistently pressing for the bout, give White’s stance it still seems like a long shot at this point. However, Cejudo is trying to give himself every opportunity to secure the fight and will reportedly be re-entering the USADA testing pool so he can capitalize, should the opportunity arise.

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Reaction. Dana White reacts to tragic death of BKFC fighter: ‘Is anybody shocked?’

Defense. Herb Dean defends call not to stop UFC 266 main event, says Brian Ortega’s problem was ‘he was tired’.

Title. Cory Sandhagen considers real title on the line at UFC 267: ‘Everyone sees Petr Yan as the champ of the division’.

Politics. B.J. Penn announces intention to run for governor of Hawaii.

DWCS Week 6 contract announcement.

UFC 266: The Thrill and the Agony.

Mackenzie Dern’s best submissions.

Mackenzie Dern interview.

Donald Cerrone is back in camp.

Fighter vs. Writer. Ryan Bader discusses Jon Jones, Corey Anderson, and the best light heavyweight in the world.

UFC Unfiltered. An interview with Jared Gordon and actor Daniel Gillies.

Statement

Aljamain Sterling.

Derek Brunson enjoys taking shots at Kevin Holland.

Motivated.

A lot of submissions right there.

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Loopy Godinez (5-1) vs. Silvana Gomez Juarez (10-2); UFC Vegas 39, Oct. 9.

Kevin Holland (21-7, 1 NC) vs. Kyle Daukaus (10-2, 1 NC); UFC Fight Night, Nov. 13.

While it would be cool for Cejudo to get a chance at history, it would also be lame when he immediately retired afterwards. Plus, Volko works him. But I’d watch if it happens.

Thanks for reading and see y’all tomorrow.

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