UFC News - Dana White reveals his plans for the Bantamweight Divison following Henry Cejudo's retirement
At UFC 249, Henry Cejudo successfully defended the UFC Bantamweight Championship by securing a win over the returning Dominick Cruz, however, in a surprising turn of events, 'Triple C' immediately announced his retirement from mixed martial arts and called it a career.
With Cejudo's retirement being in effect immediately, the UFC Bantamweight Championship is expected to be vacated and UFC President, Dana White himself has confirmed that the promotion will move forward with Petr Yan as one of the contenders for the vacant title.
Dana White reveals the plan for the vacant UFC Bantamweight Championship
In the post-UFC 249 press conference, Dana White confirmed that Henry Cejudo has seemingly been talking about retiring for the past several months and praised him by billing him as one of the best fighters in the world, who put out another impressive performance at UFC 249. (H/T: MMA Mania)
“He’s been talking about retirement to us for the past several months. I didn’t know he was going to do it tonight, but I knew he’s been talking about it. And you know my opinion on that: if you start talking about retirement in this business, it’s probably a good idea. Although I think he’s one of the best in the world, he looked incredible."- White said at the post-fight press conference.
White further added that his current plan is to match Petr Yan against someone else from the UFC Bantamweight Division, for a shot at the vacant division title. The UFC President also said that his promotion will book a fight and get it done with, as soon as possible.
“It’s Petr Yan and somebody. We’ll get that figured out too. We’ll make a title fight next week for the vacant title and probably do that fight as soon as possible.”
What's next for the UFC Bantamweight Division?
The UFC Bantamweight Division is absolutely stacked with some of the finest talents, including the likes of Jose Aldo, Frankie Edgar, Petr Yan, and Aljamain Sterling. A fight for the vacant UFC Bantamweight Title is expected to take place between Yan, who could possibly face Sterling.