Alexander Volkanovski rejects Henry Cejudo superfight talk: “I don’t want to put my division on hold”

UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski has responded to talk of a superfight with former UFC bantamweight and flyweight champ Henry Cejudo.

Cejudo retired back in May, shortly after a successful bantamweight title fight against Dominick Cruz. Since then, he’s maintained that there are only a few fights that will lure him out of retirement, such as a boxing match with Ryan Garcia, or a featherweight superfight with Volkanovski.

“I’ve done everything in MMA,” Cejudo told TMZ in June. “I’m satisfied with my career. There would only be one fight that would really bring me back, that would really wake me up in the morning. That’s against other than Ryan Garcia, that would be Alexander Volkanovski, that overgrown midget.

“I would love to make him bend the knee. He’s already halfway there.”

Volkanovski, for his part, isn’t especially interested in defending his title against Cejudo. His preference is to focus on the featherweight division’s top contenders.

“My eyes are on my division. i want to defend my belt against No. 1 contenders. We’ve got a stacked division….You got all these guys fighting and whoever has an impressive performance is gonna be the No. 1 contender,” Volkanovski during the virtual media day for his UFC 251 title defense against Max Holloway. “For Henry Cejudo to push in front of the line, in front of the No. 1 contender, there needs to be money involved. I’m not into that.

“As I’ve said from Day 1, I don’t want to put my division on hold. I want to fight No. 1 contenders. For me to be GOAT of this division, you need to take out No. 1 contenders. So if someone’s gonna push in front of the line, we need to be compensated for that.”

Does a Henry Cejudo vs. Alexander Volkanovski fight interest you, or would you prefer Volkanovski sticks to his plan and takes on his division’s top contenders?