Dana White: UFC targeting Petr Yan vs Jose Aldo for vacant bantamweight title
Former flyweight and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo is officially retired according to UFC President Dana White, and now business is starting to pick up in the bantamweight division. During an appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter White confirmed Cejudo’s retirement and then leaked the plans for the division which includes former featherweight champion Jose Aldo meeting Petr Yan for the vacant title.
White told the media that not all details have been ironed out just yet, but the plan is for Yan vs Aldo for the vacant title.
"My people are probably going to kill me for this one…"@danawhite spilled the beans on trying to put together @PetrYanUFC vs. @josealdojunior for the vacant UFC bantamweight title 😏 (via @SportsCenter) pic.twitter.com/AIcd3lLIlD
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 27, 2020
“I’ll break this right here right now and my people are probably going to kill me for this one. [Henry] Cejudo has retired so we’re talking right now about Petr Yan vs Jose Aldo for the vacant title. We don’t have a date or a place set for that, but that’s the fight we’re looking at right now.”
Petr Yan has been considered one of, if not the top contender in the bantamweight division even before Cejudo faced Dominck Cruz at UFC 249 and Jose Aldo had been scheduled to face Cejudo until visa issues forced him to withdraw and allowed Cruz the title shot opportunity.
Yan is 14-1 in his professional career, including a 6-0 run since joining the UFC with notable wins over Urijah Faber, Jimmie Rivera, and John Dodson. His resume proves worthy for a title shot and with the belt now vacant, he will get his opportunity to compete for it.
In getting his first title shot, Yan will also be welcoming the former featherweight champion Jose Aldo to the 135-pound division. Aldo was on a two-fight skid in the featherweight division with losses to Marlon Moraes and Alexander Volkanovski although there was plenty of criticism surrounding the fight with Moraes.
There had been talks of a four-man tournament to determine the next champion and the names that had been rumored were Petr Yan, Cory Sandhagen, Aljamain Sterling, and Moraes.
While nothing is official yet and a date and venue still needs to be determined it appears that the UFC has a plan in place for the vacant bantamweight title.
