Henry Cejudo Relinquishing UFC Flyweight Title Amid Figueiredo-Benavidez Rumors

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Henry Cejudo‘s reign as a two-division UFC champion will come to an end when he relinquishes the flyweight crown. 

Per MMA Junkie's Mike Bohn, the UFC intends to take the 125-pound title from Cejudo to put it on the line in a proposed matchup between Joseph Benavidez and Deiveson Figueiredo being eyed for the Feb. 29 UFC on ESPN 27 event. 

Cejudo told Bohn he's forfeiting the title: “No, I am not being stripped. I am relinquishing my title. Correction! ‘Triple C' is relinquishing his title to these wannabe, so-called flyweight kingpins. That's what's going on. I'm relinquishing my belt. Being stripped is not what I'm doing. I'm relinquishing, and you can tell them all to bend the knee.”

Ali Abdelaziz, Cejudo's manager, told Bohn they haven't yet been told anything by the UFC about the status of the flyweight belt. 

Cejudo became the fourth fighter in UFC history to simultaneously hold championships in two weight classes. He beat Demetrious Johnson for the flyweight title at UFC 227 in August 2018. 

The Triple Clown beat Marlon Moraes at UFC 238 in June for the bantamweight title, which was vacated three months earlier by T.J. Dillashaw due to a dispute with the United States Anti-Doping Agency over an adverse finding in a drug test. 

Per ESPN's Ariel Helwani, Cejudo is hoping to defend the bantamweight belt in the first half of 2020. The 32-year-old is recovering from shoulder surgery he had less than two weeks after beating Moraes that comes with a four- to five-month recovery timetable.

Since losing consecutive fights to Johnson and Benavidez in 2016, Cejudo has won five straight fights. He is 15-2 in his professional career, including a 9-2 mark since coming to the UFC in 2014. 

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