BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Jussier Formiga won’t accept any other fight outside of a flyweight championship showdown with dual UFC champ Henry Cejudo should he emerge victorious against Joseph Benavidez on Saturday in the UFC on ESPN 3 co-main event.
Formiga (23-5 MMA, 9-4 UFC) is currently on a four-fight winning streak, and despite being one of the division’s longest tenured fighters, has never challenged for UFC flyweight gold. He will look to avenge his loss to long time top flyweight contender, Benavidez (27-5 MMA, 14-3 UFC), which came by first-round TKO six years ago at UFC Fight Night 28.
And with a win over Benavidez, the Brazilian undoubtedly feels like he should be next in line to face Cejudo (15-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC), who will be out of action for the rest of the year after undergoing surgery this month.
“It’s good that Cejudo got two belts, it brings more visibility to the division, but it’s not that great that I have to win and wait,” Formiga told MMA Junkie through an interpreter at UFC on ESPN 3 open workouts on Wednesday. “If I win this fight on Saturday, I’m going to wait for my chance at the title shot.
“I’m beating Benavidez, I’m going to be the number one contender and I’m going to sit on it until Cejudo’s back.”
UFC on ESPN 3 takes place Saturday at Target Center in Minneapolis. Formiga vs. Benavidez co-headline the card, which airs on ESPN.
For much of the year there was uncertainty about the stability of the UFC flyweight division. UFC president Dana White recently confirmed it’s sticking around, though, which allows Formiga to have a greater focus on beating Benavidez and moving on to his long-awaited title shot.
“I’m extremely happy,” Formiga said. “Obviously, I kind of knew that the division wasn’t going anywhere but it’s always nice to hear from Dana that we all have a job and that’s motivated me so much in the past few weeks to show everyone what the real 125’ers are.”
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