Joseph Benavidez rips Henry Cejudo after ‘Triple C’ calls out Jose Aldo

Joseph Benavidez slammed Henry Cejudo for ducking a potential flyweight title fight and calling out new bantamweight contender Jose Aldo instead.

Last weekend at UFC 245, Jose Aldo proved naysayers wrong by fighting on top form against Marlon Moraes— despite a significant weight cut to make the bantamweight limit.

Moraes ultimately took home a controversial split decision victory. However, many members of the MMA community — including UFC boss Dana White — believed that Aldo should have taken home the W.

Aldo’s excellent performance didn’t go unnoticed by the division’s current champion, Henry Cejudo. “Triple C” hopped on social media to give “a public service announcement” directed at the “King of Rio” — which didn’t go over well with Benavidez.

Watch the video below:

This is a public service announcement from Triple C to the self proclaim “King of Rio”. @josealdojunior @danawhite @ufc pic.twitter.com/bkrLUcgyC0

— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) December 15, 2019

Not long thereafter, the No. 1 ranked flyweight contender Benavidez ripped into Cejudo for overlooking his obligations to fight in the flyweight division.

It’s obvious you don’t want to fight me and have no interest of going back down to flyweight. Just stop stringing shit along with the company and the division. I’m ready to Fight! @danawhite @Mickmaynard2 https://t.co/3pVBGdDjOY

— Joseph Benavidez (@JoeJitsu) December 15, 2019

“It’s obvious you don’t want to fight me and have no interest of going back down to flyweight,” Benavidez said. “Just stop stringing shit along with the company and the division. I’m ready to Fight!”

Benavidez also retweeted multiple tweets prompting the two-division champion to “defend or vacate.”

Benavidez, a staple of Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, is riding a three-fight win streak, having last fought and beat Jussier Formiga by TKO in June 2019. He is also one of only two fighters to beat the current flyweight champ. The other is recent ONE Championship Grand Prix winner Demetrious Johnson.

Benavidez faced the Olympic wrestler Cejudo in The Ultimate Fighter finale in 2016. The closely contested fight finished after three rounds and Benavidez took the win by split-decision. Cejudo hasn’t lost a fight since their 2016 bout, but is yet to face Benavidez in a rematch.

However, Benavidez believes his win already proves he’s a better fighter.

“I beat him and that’s how I’m always looking at him,” Benavidez told MMA Fighting recently. “I’m better than him, I beat him, I pushed a pace on him and landed clean this clean that. I look at that so it’s motivating to see him do everything he can because that’s what I know of him.”

Would you like to see Henry Cejudo face Joseph Benavidez in a rematch for the flyweight title?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 12/16/2019.