Henry Cejudo returning to Flyweight after UFC 250?
Is the Flyweight King returning to reclaim his throne? The 125-pound division's status is up in the air after UFC Norfolk. Joseph Benavidez took on Deiveson Figueiredo for the vacant Flyweight Championship.
However, Figueiredo missed weight, meaning that even if he won, he wouldn't be crowned Flyweight Champion. He didn't seem too apologetic about it either as he knocked out Joseph Benavidez in the second round, leaving the title vacant.
There hasn't been a Flyweight title defense since January 2019 and there's some fear that due to what happened, the division will officially be shut down. The former Champion Henry Cejudo vacated the title in favor of defending the Bantamweight Championship and that's what he's going to do at UFC 250 when he takes on Jose Aldo in the main event.
Cejudo has been criticized for a while now, the latest reason being that he's defending the title against an undeserving contender in Jose Aldo (who lost his 135-pound debut to Marlon Moraes, albeit controversially).
After UFC Norfolk, Cejudo declared his intention to return to Flyweight and to "keep it great":
His manager Ali Abdelaziz also revealed that Cejudo intends to return to Flyweight (which he called "flyway") after UFC 250:
Whether it's a good move or not, we can't be sure. It all depends on the outcome of UFC 250. If Jose Aldo wins the title and then Cejduo goes back down, there won't be an issue. However, if he takes on Deiveson Figueiredo after retaining the title, he's going to be under a lot of pressure as Aljamain Sterling, Petr Yan, and to some extent, Cory Sandhagen, are all in possible contention for the title.
It'll lead to another mix-up and another year of confusion and delay for the Bantamweight division - which is one of the most stacked on the roster.