Dana White: Henry Cejudo deserves respect for wanting to fight Jose Aldo

UFC president Dana White thinks Henry Cejudo deserves credit for chasing after a legend like Jose Aldo.

Cejudo (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) will attempt to make his first bantamweight title defense at UFC 250 when he takes on Aldo (28-6 MMA, 10-5 UFC) in enemy territory.

Aldo failed to make good in his bantamweight debut and was narrowly defeated by Marlon Moraes in a controversial split decision loss, which prompted heavy criticism when the UFC decided to grant Cejudo’s wish. But White, who scored the fight for Aldo, understands where the former dual-champ Cejudo is coming from with his callout of the former long-time featherweight champ.

“Jose Aldo has been a bad mother(expletive) his whole career, and a guy like Cejudo wants to fight him,” White told reporters Tuesday in Las Vegas. “Instead of criticizing, you should respect that, the fact that he wants to fight Jose Aldo. Cejudo isn’t a guy running around looking for easy fights. He’s not like, ‘Oh, I want this guy or that guy,’ and coming off the fight he just fought, to win his second belt, and the way that he won it, this isn’t a guy looking for easy fights.

“If you’re Cejudo, you want to take on a legend like Jose Aldo, I get it. I totally get it.”

Other bantamweights near the top of the division – notably Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan – don’t share White’s sentiment. But White thinks the notion that Cejudo is looking for easy fights is unfair. The way he sees it, Aldo proved that he still has a lot left in the tank despite losing his last fight.

“It would be one thing if you had a champ that was trying to duck people and trying to look for easier guys, that is not Henry Cejudo,” White said. “Say what you want about Henry Cejudo, if you don’t like him, you don’t like his personality or the things that he does, this guy does not look for easy fights, and he wants Jose Aldo, and Jose Aldo is a dangerous guy.”

Since dethroning Demetrious Johnson to capture the flyweight title, Cejudo went on to shock the masses once again when he stopped former two-time UFC bantamweight champ T.J. Dillashaw in just 32 seconds to defend his belt. He then made history by joining elite company in holding two titles simultaneously after he finished Moraes in a comeback win to capture the 135-pound title.