Henry Cejudo Admits He Refused to Coach Against Teammate
Henry Cejudo Admits He Refused to Coach Against Teammate
The first episode of "The Ultimate Fighter 24" aired last evening, and a feud already seems to be brewing between coaches Henry Cejudo and Joseph Benavidez.
The first episode of "The Ultimate Fighter 24" aired last evening, and a feud already seems to be brewing between coaches Henry Cejudo and Joseph Benavidez.
Earlier this week, Cejudo spoke to Matt Serra and Jim Norton on the UFC Unfiltered podcast and explained why he wasn't happy with Benavidez.
"We can say we don't mind each other, but we really don't like each other," Cejudo said. "At the end of the day, we are competitors, and we have to fight. He called me out, man. I come from such a clean sport in Olympic-style wrestling, and you never talk stuff, but we shake hands and we figure who the best is man. It's the same way in jiu-jitsu.
"MMA is different. It's like, the more you call someone out, the more crap you talk and the cooler you become. That's all. He called me out, man. I wanted to fight him, and I wanted to get ready for a five-round fight. He's the one that decided to call me out of social media."
[tweet url=" https://twitter.com/UltimateFighter/status/7712189..." hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
In the first episode, Cejudo's friend and training partner, Brandon Moreno, was drafted onto Team Benavidez and went on to lose in this first fight to Cejudo's fighter, Alexandre Pantoja.
"Yeah, that was a friend of mine," Cejudo said. "Whoever I decided to pick was always based on numbers. Number one fought number 16, and that's what happened. The lowest-ranked guy fought the highest-ranked guy, and that's what happened in this situation. We tried to work with strategy, but the strategy backfired and my training partner didn't end up with me, and now that's kicking me in the ass a little bit. Life goes on, and it sucks and it's unfortunate."
After seeing his friend get choked out, Cejudo said he found it hard to take any pleasure from the victory. He also confirmed he hadn't coached Pantoja at all during the fight.
"I didn't coach against him [Moreno]," Cejudo said. "I didn't tell the guy anything; the guy he fought against [Pantoja], I didn't tell him a single thing. It was actually the first fight, so I couldn't teach him much anyways, so I just was there in the corner and kept my mouth shut. I was on the bench, and that's all I did."
Serra asked Cejudo if he felt guilty about not completing his obligations as a coach, but the former title contender said Pantoja understood the situation fully.
"Yeah, but at the end of the day, I don't have a hundreds-of-millions-dollar contract," Cejudo said. "You pay me hundreds of millions, and it changes the game. It was more of a personal thing. My fighter understood the situation and he respected it."
Earlier this week, Cejudo spoke to Matt Serra and Jim Norton on the UFC Unfiltered podcast and explained why he wasn't happy with Benavidez.
"We can say we don't mind each other, but we really don't like each other," Cejudo said. "At the end of the day, we are competitors, and we have to fight. He called me out, man. I come from such a clean sport in Olympic-style wrestling, and you never talk stuff, but we shake hands and we figure who the best is man. It's the same way in jiu-jitsu.
"MMA is different. It's like, the more you call someone out, the more crap you talk and the cooler you become. That's all. He called me out, man. I wanted to fight him, and I wanted to get ready for a five-round fight. He's the one that decided to call me out of social media."
[tweet url=" https://twitter.com/UltimateFighter/status/7712189..." hide_media="0" hide_thread="1"]
In the first episode, Cejudo's friend and training partner, Brandon Moreno, was drafted onto Team Benavidez and went on to lose in this first fight to Cejudo's fighter, Alexandre Pantoja.
"Yeah, that was a friend of mine," Cejudo said. "Whoever I decided to pick was always based on numbers. Number one fought number 16, and that's what happened. The lowest-ranked guy fought the highest-ranked guy, and that's what happened in this situation. We tried to work with strategy, but the strategy backfired and my training partner didn't end up with me, and now that's kicking me in the ass a little bit. Life goes on, and it sucks and it's unfortunate."
After seeing his friend get choked out, Cejudo said he found it hard to take any pleasure from the victory. He also confirmed he hadn't coached Pantoja at all during the fight.
"I didn't coach against him [Moreno]," Cejudo said. "I didn't tell the guy anything; the guy he fought against [Pantoja], I didn't tell him a single thing. It was actually the first fight, so I couldn't teach him much anyways, so I just was there in the corner and kept my mouth shut. I was on the bench, and that's all I did."
Serra asked Cejudo if he felt guilty about not completing his obligations as a coach, but the former title contender said Pantoja understood the situation fully.
"Yeah, but at the end of the day, I don't have a hundreds-of-millions-dollar contract," Cejudo said. "You pay me hundreds of millions, and it changes the game. It was more of a personal thing. My fighter understood the situation and he respected it."