Henry Cejudo believes now is the perfect time for Diego Lopes and Yair Rodriguez to fight.
During the UFC 314 pre-fight press conference, Lopes and Rodriguez needed to be held back by security when they got in a heated exchange after a reporter asked them about fighting each other. Lopes, who was facing Alexander Volkanovski for the vacant belt, mocked Rodriguez’s two-fight losing skid. Rodriguez was scheduled to welcome Patricio Freire to the octagon.
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Rodriguez (19-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) fired back by alleging that Lopes (27-8 MMA, 6-3 UFC) and his team jumped his teammate, Marco Beltran. With Lopes coming off a title loss to Volkanovski at UFC 325 this past Saturday, and Rodriguez back in the win column by defeating Freire, Cejudo says it’s time they settle their beef.
“After coming up short, 0-2 to Volkanovski, the ‘Mexizilian’ needs to fight Yair Rodriguez next,” Cejudo said on his X account. “After that whole beef at the press conference, knowing that people have gotten jumped from either side, I mean, it is some Mexican-on-Mexican crime. At 145 pounds, we have Lerone Murphy vs. Movsar.
“Rumor has it, Aljamain Sterling vs. (Youssef) Zalal is going on, too. There’s only one fight for these guys to settle it. I’m talking about that Mexican-on-Mexican crime. Let’s see who is Mr. Mexico. I like May 5, Cinco de Mayo. Who knows guys? Maybe we all wait for September (Noche UFC), but that fight needs to happen.”
Lopes claimed that he was offered Rodriguez for Noche UFC months after UFC 314, and Rodriguez confirmed that he turned it down due to nagging injuries suffered in his win over “Pitbull.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Henry Cejudo calls for ‘Mexican-on-Mexican crime’ at featherweight
