"He wants all the pound-for-pound" - Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman react to Islam Makhachev's bold demand for their podcast
Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo responded to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev's humorous comments regarding the name of their podcast, 'Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru and Henry.'
Makhachev is ranked No.1 in the pound-for-pound rankings. On the 'Mighty Cast' podcast with flyweight legend Demetrious Johnson, the Dagestani fighter jokingly suggested that Usman and Cejudo must seek their permission to use the name 'Pound 4 Pound' for their podcast.
In an episode of their podcast that aired on Jan. 8, Cejudo and Usman addressed Makhachev's playful jab. Usman found Makhachev's comments hilarious and noted that the Dagestani fighter wasn't hostile on the subject when he appeared on their show. Cejudo also joined in on the humor, making a light-hearted remark:
"He's greedy, bro! He wants all the pound-for-pound for him, as you should!... Islam has come out of his shell. We all know that Khabib is very charismatic, and we're getting a lot more of that from a guy like Islam Makhachev. But that being said, we are pound-for-pound. Call what you want to call, we, Kamaru Usman and Triple C, have done some amazing things in combat sports and nobody should be able to take that."
Check out Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo's comments below (40:34):
Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo predict Islam Makhachev's championship future for 2025
Islam Makhachev is one of the most dominant reigning UFC champions. He's tied with B.J. Penn, Frankie Edgar, Benson Henderson and Khabib Nurmagomedov for the most consecutive title defenses in lightweight history (three).
In the aforementioned episode of the 'Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru and Henry' podcast, Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman discussed whether Makhachev will be able to retain the title until the end of 2025. Cejudo said:
"155... I think Islam's going to take it." [20:00]
Usman offered a unique perspective on Makhachev's competitive future:
"If Islam Makhachev wants to still wants to stay here and do this, I think Islam stays champion. But we might have some changes going on, you'll never know.Because all of a sudden, Khabib decided, 'Yeah, I'm done. I've done what I what I wanted to, I'm done.' Islam has done that. So, who knows?" [24:20]
Makhachev is scheduled to defend his lightweight title for the fourth time against Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 311 on Jan. 18. This fight is the rematch of their first encounter, which Makhachev won by unanimous decision in April 2019.