Henry Cejudo has thrown his hat in the ring to face ‘Olympic bronze medallist’ Floyd Mayweather after the retired UFC champion revealed ‘it’s going down’.
Mayweather has long hinted at competing against a UFC star, having pocketed roughly £200m when he faced Conor McGregor in a money-spinning boxing clash in August 2017.
The 44-year-old, who retired undefeated with 50 wins and no defeats, was snapped with UFC supremo Dana White and Rizin Fighting Federation chief Nobuyuki Sakakibara this week, fuelling speculation over another collaboration.
Henry Cejudo (R) has claimed he is fighting boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather (L) next
The 34-year-old tweeted a mocked up image of himself and Mayweather: ‘It’s going down’
And Cejudo, 34, has claimed that he will fight Mayweather next, labelling the boxing icon ‘the Olympic bronze medallist’.
‘It’s going down! The Triple C Vs The Olympic bronze medalist @floydmayweather #staytune’, Cejudo tweeted alongside a mocked up image of the pair squaring up.
Cejudo won Olympic gold in freestyle wrestling at the 2008 games in Beijing to add to his UFC titles at flyweight and bantamweight. The American’s nickname is ‘Triple C’ to reflect that he has won gold in three different categories.
Meanwhile, five-weight former world champion Mayweather won bronze in amateur boxing at the 1996 Games in Atlanta.
Mayweather retired in 2017 after beating another UFC star, Conor McGregor, in Las Vegas
The American (R) was pictured with UFC chief Dana White (C) and Rizin chief Nobuyuki Sakakibara (L) earlier this week
UFC chief White and counterpart Sakakibara, who Mayweather worked with for an exhibition bout in Japan in 2018, all three have hinted at working with ‘Money’ in the future.
‘TUNE IN! We’re working on a huge deal!’ Mayweather said on Instagram, posing with the duo.
‘HOOOOOOOLY S***!!!!!! WTF is goin [sic] on here’, White tweeted, alongside the photo of the trio.
Sakakibara tweeted that White’s arrival was impromptu, with the Japanese only due to meet Mayweather this week.
‘When I was having a meeting with Mayweather, I was surprised when Dana appeared when I was told, ‘I have a guy who wants to see Sakakibara from now on, so I’ll call him by phone”,’ he tweeted.
White, 51, and Mayweather, 44, have not been shy in expressing their desire to work together
Mayweather worked with Rizin in 2018 and the implication is that White could work with them
‘It’s been about 15 years since I met him again [but he is] one of the guys I wanted to meet back in the industry. Something may be born by chance!’
The coronavirus pandemic halted plans between White and Mayweather to work together in 2020, but it appears that talks are back up and running over a future collaboration.
Cejudo’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, revealed that another of his clients, Khabib Nurmagomedov, was previously offered $100m (£72m) to take on Mayweather. The Dagestani’s retirement has dashed hopes of that fight ever materialising.
Abdelaziz responded to Cejudo’s tweet, saying: ‘Let’s see who is the better Olympian’.
Cejudo taunted Mayweather’s Olympic bronze medal, having won gold in Beijing in 2008
While Cejudo is also retired, the 34-year-old has appeared more open to a return to combat sports, having regularly taunted his UFC rivals on social media.
Mayweather, meanwhile, has agreed to take on YouTuber Logan Paul. The pair were set to meet in February but the bout was postponed, with a new date yet to be announced.
Paul, 26, has fought just once professionally, when he lost to fellow influencer KSI in Los Angeles in November 2019.