Report: Henry Cejudo & Jose Aldo Have Got Their Wish, Fight is a Go

Although officially, Jose Aldo came up short in his bantamweight debut in December, the legendary fighter has been booked to fight 135 champ, Henry Cejudo.

Cejudo – Aldo booked for UFC 250

UFC President Dana White has informed ESPN that Aldo is going to battle Cejudo at UFC 250, which will go down on May 9th in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The will headline the upcoming event, and other sources have also confirmed the fighters have agreed to the contest.

Aldo (28-6) made his much-discussed and debated bantamweight debut against Marlon Moraes at UFC 245. Although a lot of people, including White and Cejudo scored it for the former 145 champ, Moraes was awarded the split decision win.

After the fight, White reported that Cejudo had requested to face Aldo next. In more recent weeks, the stars have campaigned for the fight via social media and in interviews.

Cejudo (15-2), meanwhile, hasn’t fought since he took out Moraes at UFC 238 last June to secure the vacant, bantamweight belt.

What will the reaction be?

Not everyone is on board with handing a fighter a title shot, however, who just lost a fight. Pedro Munhoz, for example, argued Cejudo – Aldo makes “no sense”, and there are certainly other people who feel that way. Similar opposition has been expressed regarding the March 7th match-up between 185 champ Israel Adesanya and Yoel Romero, since the latter has lost two-straight.

But, as UFC history shows us, business considerations frequently override rankings and meritocratic matchmaking.

All this aside, it’s going to be really interesting to see if Aldo can add another UFC belt to his collection. Aldo has outstanding wrestling defense and he’s going to have a significant reach advantage over Cejudo.