UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw refused to accept his 32-second stoppage loss to Henry Cejudo on Saturday night. His argument was that the fight was stopped too early, which UFC president Dana White is in agreement with.
Cejudo’s coach Eric Albarracin does concur on some level that the fight could have gone a little longer, but he expects the same result for them, and a worst one for their opponent.
“Obviously anything could’ve went a little bit longer, but I think the result might’ve been the same, would’ve been the same, probably just more damage on him,” Albarracin said during his studio appearance on Monday’s episode of The MMA Hour (via MMA Fighting). “Henry was hurting him. He hit him with the kick, the head kick. He hit him with the left. I think one behind the ear, he got a straight right over the ear.
“And there’s a YouTube that’s called ‘What Really Happened With T.J. Dillashaw vs. Henry Cejudo,’ and they break it down perfectly, how many shots he took and how he wasn’t defending himself intelligently, how the wrong hand was up, Henry was over here but he was looking over here.”
Dillashaw has since demanded for a rematch, but wants it to take place at his home weight class at bantamweight. Albarracin is not shutting down that idea, but maintains that Cejudo will not be abandoning the 125-pound division.
“It’s kinda like working against ‘us saving the flyweight division,’ but it’s not that Henry doesn’t want to save the flyweight division, it’s more for that one match,” Albarracin said “Henry likes to conquer. He’s a conqueror. He conquered the Olympics, retired his next day. He conquered the flyweight division yesterday again, and [maybe he’ll] challenge for the next title, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t go back.
“I think you go out there, beat T.J. just to get that belt and be able to say you’re the double champ champ, which would put you in one-of-one — meaning Olympic gold, flyweight gold, bantamweight gold. And I think, kinda, that’s what he wants for his legacy. It’s not more about that accessory, the belt. It’s more about creating a legacy for us.”
As for Cejudo’s next fight, Albarracin is targeting a marquee matchup that could possibly take place during the annual International Fight Week in Las Vegas in July.
“I think Henry is one of the money fights now,” he said. “I think that not only did he save the flyweight division, he created Cejudo-weight division. Who wants to come down from 150 pounds or less, come on down and fight the champ champ champ?”
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