Henry Cejudo fine if Nevada boycott ruins UFC title shot: 'I'm a slave to no one'

UFC flyweight Henry Cejudo has taken a stand in refusing to fight in Nevada in the wake of Nick Diaz’s five-year suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission following his latest failed drug test for marijuana metabolites.

Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson (23-2-1 MMA, 11-1-1 UFC) has made it clear that he wants to fight in Las Vegas at UFC 196, the promotion’s annual Super Bowl weekend show. Should Cejudo (9-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC), the No. 9 ranked fighter in the NOS Energy Drink MMA flyweight rankings, get by No. 4 ranked Jussier Formiga (18-3 MMA, 4-2 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 78 on Nov. 21 in Mexico, he could be in line for a title shot.

Cejudo, however, said he’s not planning on altering his stance in any way.

“I was a part of the whole Olympic movement with training for four years for the Olympics,” Cejudo told MMAjunkie while in attendance at UFC 192 this past weekend. “I started getting tested when I was in high school. I just felt like the Nevada Athletic Commission was kind of targeting Nick Diaz, and I felt like that was uncalled for.

“I competed, and I won a gold medal, and I’ve never been tested three times in one day – in the span of 12 hours. I just felt like he was targeted. As a fellow fighter, I can’t let that go down. At least for me, I couldn’t live with myself.”

Johnson has made his stance clear as well. If Cejudo earns a shot and chooses to pass on the opportunity to take on the champion in Nevada, “It’s not my problem,” he recently said.

Cejudo sees no issue with that.

“I’m standing firm, and I mean it, even if that means letting go of the title,” Cejudo said. “Like I said before, my self-worth is worth more than my net worth. The reason why I’m called ‘The Messenger’ is that I try to do good.”

While he’s entirely comfortable with the idea of a certain kind of martyrdom in the situation, Cejudo would be willing to fight in Nevada if the Diaz suspension were to be overturned.

For now, the Olympic gold medalist hasn’t even had a conversation with the UFC about his boycott of the state that serves as the promotion’s base of operations.

“I have not spoken to the UFC,” Cejudo said. “The UFC have done such a great job with me. They’ve treated me so well. But I’m taking my stance on this. Like I said before, I’m a slave to no one.

“I know what it feels like to be the best in the world. I have a gold medal. Do I really want the gold belt right now and kind of lose my dignity and my self-worth? I’m sorry to break this to you, but my gold medal is actually gold plated. That belt is not actually gold. It’s gold-plated as well. It goes back to my character and my integrity.”

Check out the full conversation above.

And for more on UFC Fight Night 78, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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