Number one-ranked flyweight contender Jussier Formiga scored his fourth straight win on Saturday against Deiveson Figueiredo to keep his spot in the standings. Rightfully so, he went on to clamor for the next title shot against current champion Henry Cejudo.
The UFC, however, has other plans, as revealed by company president Dana White. These plans are in line with the recent title stripping of bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw due to a failed drug test and a subsequent year-long suspsension by USADA.
Dana wants to book Cejudo/Moraes next#UFC pic.twitter.com/EQsYBbBgk5
— Jed I. Goodman (@jedigoodman) March 24, 2019
“I now have a plan,” White told ESPN in backstage interview. “I didn’t have a plan before, now I have a plan. It looks like we’re gonna do the Moraes-Cejudo fight.
“They both want that fight really bad, seems like a good fight to make with the whole Dillashaw thing now.”
Cejduo and Moraes went back-and-forth on Twitter, after the “The Messenger” declared himself as “the biggest name” after the news of Dillashaw’s USADA case was made public.
But as for Formiga, White has some plans for him, too.
“Then you do him versus (Joseph) Benavidez on the same card,” he said. “Anything goes wrong, one of them can step up and take the fight. And then the winner of that fight is the guaranteed number one contender for the next shot.”
Moraes is coming off a huge victory in his rematch against Raphael Assuncao in February in Brazil. He bagged a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus for his first-round submission win.
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