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Israel Adesanya is not a fan of Henry Cejudo. In a recent video, the reigning UFC middleweight champion aired out his grievances with the former two-division UFC title holder ahead of Cejudo’s fight against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288 this Saturday.
“I’m gonna pick Aljo because I don’t like Henry,” said Adesanya on his official YouTube channel. “See I don’t have to make no bulls—t up and try to justify it. I’ll just say I don’t like the munchkin, I don’t like Henry Cejudo. Yeah, I said your name. Little f—king b—h.
“For me, it’s like, for such a smart man, he lets his emotions cloud his judgment and he starts to get real hater vibes because he thinks that me being great takes away from his greatness,” continued Adesanya. “I’m like, nah. You’re great in your own lane. You do your f—king thing. You can do your f—king thing, king — cringe king. Yeah. I’mma go Aljo and not just Aljo for no reason. I really think Aljo can beat him. But again, like I said, Aljo right now I really think he’s [got the] momentum, he’s feeling himself, he knows he’s the champion and I think it’s gonna be one of those high-level fights.”
The Israel Adesanya and Henry Cejudo beef explained
Israel Adesanya has had issues with Henry Cejudo since his fight against Paulo Costa at UFC 253 nearly three years ago. After the ‘Last Stylebender’ finished ‘Borrachinha,’ he exchanged some NSFW words with Costa’s corner, which included Fight Ready coach Eric Albarracin. Cejudo chimed in, and the rest, as they say, was history.
On his official YouTube channel, Cejudo has panned Adesanya for his recent performances on several occasions. After his successful defense against Jared Cannonier at UFC 276, ‘Triple C’ said the promotion should ‘stop pushing’ Adesanya because he was not performing.
“It’s crazy when you come out to freaking—to [WWE Legend] The Undertaker, and you didn’t put on a performance on Saturday night,” said Cejudo. “It was lame, dude. You’ve got to start giving—main events are special, dude. If he’s not performing, UFC, stop pushing this dude. He’s a decision-maker. He hypes a lot and he doesn’t deliver.”
In his pair of fights against Alex Pereira at UFC 281 and UFC 287, Cejudo tipped Adesanya to lose. When the City Kickboxing product finished ‘Po Atan’ to reclaim the UFC middleweight championship, Cejudo said he was proven wrong and apologized but insisted Adesanya won due to a ‘Hail Mary’ after getting hurt early—something the freshly re-crowned champ ripped him for.
“Smart men, even the munchkin [Henry Cejudo] said, ‘Oh yeah, he tried to act like he wasn’t hurt [against Pereira]’. I’m like, no, you were right. I was hurt. I even said at the post-fight press conference — this is what I mean by people trying to be first,“ said Adesanya. “If they actually take the time to watch the post-fight press conference, they’d see I gave him props. I was even like, ‘I’m gonna learn that leg kick off of him.’
“But the smart, dumb people don’t actually watch anything,” continued Adesanya. “They just want to be first, so they can go film their s—t, talk their s—t and put it out there, especially the munchkin.”
Adesanya still gives props to Cejudo
Though Adesanya sees Cejudo losing to Sterling, the 33-year-old still gives him props for how far he has come since signing with the UFC.
“I’ll you one thing. Henry’s different,” said Adesanya. “Henry’s able to learn. It’s not really about his skillset as a wrestler. For me, he’s able to learn. When he first got into the UFC, I knew he was an Olympic champ. I was like, he’s a wrestler. Then I watched his striking and I watched the way he flowed, the way he moved. I was like, ‘Yo, this guy is learning.’ The ability to learn, he has that. He’s a good student. He’s legit.”
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