Morning Report: Henry Cejudo wants Justin Gaethje added to UFC 288, suggests title eliminator vs. Beneil Dariush

Henry Cejudo has the solution to bolster UFC 288.

The UFC’s next pay-per-view event on May 6 took a hit this past weekend when it was announced that the co-main event between top lightweight contenders Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush was off. Oliveira sustained an injury and the matchup is now being targeted for UFC 289 on June 10 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, according to Dariush.

Meanwhile, UFC President Dana White shared that the promotion wants to replace it with another big fight and is working on doing so. As one half of the card’s main event, the former dual-division champion Cejudo feels he knows the perfect play.

“You guys want to have a great co-main event on a great card … why not Justin Gaethje?” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel. “I guarantee you Justin Gaethje will step in. Do him vs. Dariush, winner gets a title shot. There’s something that needs to be done and I do believe people need to do something to really step up if they really want to be that next person because if not, a whole damn year goes by and then you’re thinking about who they’re gonna fight next.

“As a competitor, if I was in that position I’d be the first person to raise my hand. ‘Hey, I’m here to step up.’”

The timing for a potential 155-pound title shot lines up well with Cejudo’s suggestion. It’s expected that the lightweight titleholder Islam Makhachev will return for his second defense in October for the promotion’s return to Abu Dhabi. Until then, the No. 1 contender will need to be sorted.

Dariush already has a strong case as is, riding a strong eight-fight winning streak, and was supposed to clash with Makhachev in February of last year. At the same time, the Oliveira fight has been attempted before as well. The first time came in October 2020 until Oliveira withdrew from injury.

“Oliveira may not even be ready for June. If he wasn’t ready for May, what makes you think he’s gonna be ready for June?” Cejudo said. “Whatever injury it may be, you gotta take those chances, dude.”

Cejudo looks to reclaim the bantamweight title at UFC 288 when challenging the champion Aljamain Sterling. Last defeating the division’s greatest fighter of all time Dominick Cruz in May 2020 via second-round TKO (knee and punches), Cejudo, 36, remains confident as ever and only believes he’ll be even better after ending his layoff.

UFC 288’s main event competitors have already bantered back-and-forth plenty and are a very intriguing stylistic matchup. Ultimately, fans and even the boss himself want just a little more meat on the New Jersey event’s bone. It doesn’t get much better than the arguably most exciting fighter of all time in “The Highlight.”

“Whether it’s Belal Muhammad or Gilbert Burns or damn Colby Covington — Covington’s already gonna get that shot — you do something. You make something exciting to really make the fight fans excited for UFC 288,” Cejudo said. “I would prefer Gaethje. He’s just fought not too long ago but he didn’t take that much damage from [Rafael Fiziev]. Then again, the way he trains, he trains so damn hard that I’m not sure if he’s ready. But if I had to pick somebody to really step in, it would be Justin Gaethje and what he’s shown and what he’s proven.”

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The MMA Hour.

Pavlovich’s resume.

The many sides of DeAnna Bennett.

Full fight.

Kai-lights.

War Room: Blaydes vs. Pavlovich.

Arnold in KC.

Burns-Masvidal fight day.

Bisping’s Top 5 Scandals.

Wondervlog.

No Bets Barred. MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew and Conner Burks discuss if Sergei Pavlovich or Curtis Blaydes will earn a heavyweight title shot at UFC Vegas 71.

Suggestion.

Nasty.

Comeback season.

I call BS… but still fun.

Built different.

Nightmare.

Prep.

The beginning.

Grrr.

Patience.

Awareness.

Darren.

Yikes.

What is even going on now?

Friends.

The heavies.

Bets.

Wrong sport.

Sergei’s world.

Karate Kid.

Sweat.

Flyweight.

Rude.

Masakatsu Funaki (40-13-1) vs. Shinya Aoki (47-11); Majestic 2023, May 4

Chris Curtis (30-10) vs. Nassourdine Imavov (12-4); UFC 289, June 10

Muslim Salikhov (19-3) vs. Nicolas Dalby (21-4-1, 2 NC); UFC Fight Night, June 17

I’m still in the camp that UFC 288 isn’t as bad as it’s been made out to be after losing Oliveira vs. Dariush. But getting one of these types of fights added? Of course! Why the hell not? We all know Gaethje, unfortunately, won’t be filling in though. Especially not against Dariush who he’s openly said he doesn’t want to fight and I’d imagine even less so in this situation.

Thanks for reading!

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