Urijah Faber believes the UFC must promote and push the return of former multi-weight champion Henry Cejudo the way it did with Ronda Rousey. Rousey main-evented two UFC cards that raked in over one million pay-per-view buys each. 'Rowdy' would also go on to share the cover of the video game UFC 2 (2016) with Conor McGregor.
During a recent interview with Helen Yee, Faber admitted he was a fan of 'Triple C' but hinted that he has not been promoted enough:
"The problem is, I know Henry, I'm a fan of Henry but he's been out for a while. That's not a comment on his fighting, it means about promotions. He hasn't been in the UFC's process of blowing guys up."
'The California Kid' feels that because Cejudo has been away from the UFC for so long, the process of his re-entry to the octagon will take time.
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Furthermore, Faber said that the UFC needs to go back and look at what they did with Ronda Rousey. She was the face of the company at one point and the way she was marketed by the promotion had a lot to do with that. If Henry Cejudo's return is to be a success, the UFC must repeat the past:
"They kinda faked it until they made it with Ronda Rousey. She wasn't pulling the numbers they were saying until she was a superstar at the very end. This stuff takes time."
Watch Urijah Faber's full interview with Helen Yee below:
Henry Cejudo vs. Alexander Volkanovski
The self-proclaimed 'King of Cringe' joined an elite group of fighters after defeating Marlon Moraes for the vacant bantamweight title in 2019. Henry Cejudo became a multi-weight champion, holding both the flyweight and bantamweight belts simultaneously.
His achievement was followed up by a surprise retirement announcement in 2020 that left many fans wondering if they would see 'Triple C' again. It would take two years and a featherweight title defense from Alexander Volkanovski to seemingly bring Cejudo out of retirement.
After confirming that he has re-entered the USADA testing pool on social media, 'The Messenger' delivered another bold statement. He wants to fight Volkanovski and become the first three-weight champion in UFC history.
However, standing in his way is a formidable opponent. Volkanovski is undefeated in his UFC career and has bested elite-level fighters such as Max Holloway and Jose Aldo. He also has three successful title defenses. The Australian has admitted to being interested in a move up to lightweight, so Cejudo's plan to capture a third title might have to wait for now.