[autotag]Henry Cejudo [/autotag]went after a legend, and will get his wish for his first 135-pound title defense.
A matchup between UFC bantamweight champion Cejudo (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) and former UFC featherweight king Jose Aldo is set for UFC 250, which takes place in Sao Paulo, Brazil on May 9.
MMA Junkie confirmed the matchup was finalized after an initial report by UFC promotional partner ESPN on Monday.
Former double champion Cejudo has not competed since capturing the UFC’s 135-pound title at UFC 238 in June, when he stopped Marlon Moraes in the fourth round to fill a title vacancy. He’s been sidelined with a shoulder injury, and in the meantime relinquished his flyweight title.
[lawrence-related id=490896,489031,470819]
Cejudo will head into enemy territory to take on Brazil’s Aldo (28-6 MMA, 10-5 UFC). Aldo failed to make good in his bantamweight debut, when he was edged out by Moraes, in a controversial split decision loss at UFC 245.
Despite the loss, Cejudo proceeded to call Aldo out, after the fight withUFC president Dana White indicating he was open to the matchup. Both Cejudo and White thought Aldo won the fight against Moraes.
While the decision to give Aldo the title shot coming off a loss has gotten brushback, it’s not without precedent: Yoel Romero, on a string of three losses in his past four fights, meets Israel Adesanya for the latter’s middleweight belt on March 7 in the main event of UFC 248.
[vertical-gallery id=471291]