Cejudo tells Pereira to earn two more wins before another UFC heavyweight title shot

Henry Cejudo has dismissed Alex Pereira’s complaints about being passed over for a UFC heavyweight title rematch, arguing the former two-division champion has already received more preferential treatment than he deserved and must now build a legitimate record at 265 pounds.

Pereira, who stands at 13-4, is booked to face Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 335 on 12 December at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. But he has publicly argued he should have been granted a rematch against Ciryl Gane, who will instead defend the heavyweight championship against Josh Hokit at UFC 334 on 14 November at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Cejudo, himself a former two-division UFC champion, pushed back hard on that position during an appearance on the “Pound 4 Pound” podcast. He pointed specifically to Pereira being handed an interim heavyweight title shot against Gane in his very first fight at the weight class — a bout Pereira lost — as evidence that “Poatan” has already been afforded extraordinary opportunities.

“It’s a part of him being spoiled too,” Cejudo said. “Alex, I’m not picking on you… You’ve skipped lines; you’ve skipped lines long enough. You’ve had enough opportunities against Ciryl Gane and you lost. Yeah, there were illegal blows; I do agree with you on that. But man, that jab from Ciryl Gane wobbled you. We kind of saw where the fight was going. It was your debut at heavyweight… I feel like you need to win at least two–three more fights to fight for the title.”

Cejudo acknowledged Pereira’s grievance about illegal blows in the Gane fight but maintained that the trajectory of the contest suggested the result was not simply a product of the infraction.

Pereira has also alleged that former fighter and commentator Daniel Cormier promoted the Gane vs. Hokit matchup at the UFC’s direction, a claim Cormier has denied. Cejudo is not the only ex-two-division champion to take issue with Pereira’s stance on the heavyweight title picture, adding further pressure on “Poatan” to prove himself in the division before making further demands of the promotion.