Khabib Nurmagomedov and Henry Cejudo are close and The Eagle sided with Triple C over the lack of pay from the UFC
Henry Cejudo was one of the surprise guests on ESPN MMA as he spoke with Brett Okamoto. Triple C, as Cejudo is called, is a former two-division UFC Champion but retired from the sport after defeating Dominick Cruz.
It all stemmed from a poor pay package from the UFC and Cejudo has always hinted that he is ready to return.
He spoke his mind on the controversial Petr Yan vs Aljamain Sterling illegal knee and even wanted to face both of them on the same night.
However, it all came back to money and Cejudo first spoke about Khabib Nurmagomedov not returning to the UFC even if they paid him an obscene amount.
Cejudo also spoke about his problems with his UFC pay and claimed that Khabib was on his side in all this.
“He [Khabib] is so far from what people think he is at, he’s probably in the same boat as I am.
“I told Khabib, what he could be. He was like ‘Henry, when are you coming back?’
“I am like, ‘Khabib, listen man, with all due respect, although I am not 29-0, my credentials are greater than yours. Olympic gold medal, two UFC belts, I defended my both my belts, this is all I want, my brother from the UFC.’”
“And he is like, ‘That’s it? They don’t want to give you that? Dude, I thought you’re even making more.’”
Cejudo, however, conceded that he wasn’t in Khabib’s position and claimed that the media works in this way.
Khabib’s return is a hot topic in MMA all the time since the Russian retired while he was at the top of his game and undefeated.
Cejudo too was in the form of his life and had dominated most of his rivals. However, the media don’t make as much stories about Triple C coming back.
Khabib, however, understood of Cejudo’s issues and backed him. Cejudo was thankful to the UFC for all that they had done, but he still wanted better pay.
Triple C returning would be great for the Bantamweight division but again, it all comes down to money.
White knows what Cejudo wants and it will be interesting to how long Triple C will be out of the fight game.
Follow our dedicated UFC page for instant UFC news and updates
