UFC 218's Henry Cejudo warns T.J. Dillashaw about dropping to flyweight

DETROIT – It wasn’t long ago that the MMA world was close to writing off Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo as a flyweight phenom.

Two misses on the scale with the now-defunct Legacy FC made the UFC antsy about promoting him as the next big threat to champ Demetrious Johnson.

Cejudo turned things around, though he wasn’t able to best Johnson when his title shot came. But he emerged from the experience with a great respect for demands of moving between weight classes.

That’s why when Cejudo (11-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) hears about UFC bantamweight T.J. Dillashaw’s (15-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) plans of gunning for Johnson’s title, he is a bit skeptical.

“If Demetrious doesn’t fight T.J., I’ll welcome T.J. to the flyweight division,” Cejudo told MMAjunkie in advance of his meeting with Sergio Pettis (16-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) on Saturday at UFC 218, which takes place at Litle Caesars Arena in Detroit and airs on pay-per-view. “Because I know what it’s like to cut 10 pounds, and I know how much that stuff hurts.

“I know if he’s going to take a crack at DJ, it’s a whole new ball game at 125. You’re not going to feel the same as at 135, and DJ seems to do very, very well at 125 pounds. So I wouldn’t mind welcoming him to the weight class as a home sweet homecoming for Dillashaw.”

But first, Cejudo has his eye on Pettis, who’s won his past four at flyweight and could be a title contender with a win. Another shot at Johnson (27-2-1 MMA, 15-1-1 UFC) is Cejudo’s ultimate goal.

If he has to detour for another champ, however, all the better.

For more from Cejudo, check out the video above.

And for more on UFC 218, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.