Cory Sandhagen is ecstatic Henry Cejudo retired following his bantamweight title defense over Dominick Cruz.
With Cejudo retiring, the bantamweight title is vacant where Petr Yan fights Jose Aldo for it. On UFC 250, meanwhile, is the presumed number one contender bout between Cory Sandhagen and Aljamain Sterling.
So, for Sandhagen, he says he’s excited Cejudo retired but was confident he’d be fighting for the belt this year anyway.
“I love that Henry left,” Sandhagen told MMA Junkie. “I’m pumped that Henry left. His personality was annoying to me. I know that it wasn’t real, but it was annoying to me. I think his choices in Aldo and (Dominick) Cruz (as opponents) were also lame, but I see his argument, too. He wanted to sell pay-per-view buys and wanted to beat a couple of legends and take off. So I get it. But he was annoying and I’m glad that he’s gone.
“And although they chose Yan vs. Aldo, I’m still not stressing about it. I still think I’m fighting for a belt at some point this year, whether it’s fall or the end of the year or whatever. I’m not stressing. I’ve been doing really good and I’ve been getting really good matches, so I’m still comfortable. I’m still okay with what’s going on.”
Cory Sandhagen admits it was weird seeing Aldo get a crack at the vacant belt. But, he understands it as the Brazilian is a big name who can help sell pay-per-views.
Ultimately, for Sandhagen, he’s just focusing on his fight against Sterling as he knows a win puts him in the driver’s seat to earn a title shot.
