“He was so dumbfounded” - Henry Cejudo reveals Khabib Nurmagomedov was shocked to know how much UFC was paying him
Henry Cejudo has revealed that Khabib Nurmagomedov was shocked to learn how much the UFC was willing to pay him for a return fight (Cejudo).
Cejudo is an Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling. ‘Triple C’ is also a former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion. Meanwhile, Khabib Nurmagomedov is a former UFC lightweight champion.
‘The Eagle’ rose to superstardom in the combat sports world after becoming the lightweight champion and defending his belt against Conor McGregor back in 2018. Thanks to his massive following, Khabib Nurmagomedov made a substantial amount of money in the UFC.
Nurmagomedov’s final MMA fight took place at UFC 254 in October 2020, following which, he retired from the sport of MMA.
As for Henry Cejudo, the 34-year-old retired from MMA after his victory against Dominick Cruz at UFC 249 in May 2020. However, over the last few months, Cejudo has been lobbying for a comeback fight against reigning UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
'Triple C' has consistently maintained that a fight between himself and Volkanovski would do great business. In an edition of The Triple C & Schmo Show, Cejudo indicated that he deserves to fight ‘The Great’. That, along with the paycheck that would come with it.
He alluded to UFC president Dana White's refusal to accord him the opportunity to fight Volkanovski. Demanding respect and monetary reward from the UFC, Cejudo stated:
“I’m not even overreaching, Schmo. That’s the sad part, bro. Like, I’m not even overreaching at all, man. When I told Khabib how much I’m getting paid, how much I’m asking for, he was so dumbfounded. He’s like, ‘Really?’ He was like, ‘Really?’ He’s like, ‘Man, that’s not right. I understand you.’ It’s just that people are on different contracts, man. You know, Khabib’s making $10 million a fight, and we’re nowhere near that.”
Watch Henry Cejudo’s conversation with The Schmo in the video below:
Henry Cejudo’s teammate Chan Sung Jung will fight Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 273
After Max Holloway’s injury withdrawal from his fight against Alexander Volkanovski, many top-tier fighters – including Henry Cejudo – volunteered to face ‘The Great'. Dana White and the UFC are seemingly uninterested in giving Cejudo a shot at Volkanovski’s UFC featherweight belt.
Instead, the UFC booked ‘The Korean Zombie’ aka Chan Sung Jung to fight Volkanovski for the title. Jung is no stranger to Cejudo, as he often trains with ‘Triple C’ at the Fight Ready gym in Arizona.
The Korean MMA stalwart previously challenged Jose Aldo for the UFC featherweight title back in 2013 and will now make a second attempt at capturing the coveted belt. The Volkanovski-Jung featherweight title matchup will take place at UFC 273 on April 9th.