Former UFC star Henry Cejudo wants shot at featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, unprecedented 3rd division title

Henry Cejudo's ultimate goal — and one of the main reasons he is coming out of retirement — is to challenge for the UFC featherweight title. But it's more likely Cejudo returns initially at bantamweight.

Cejudo told ESPN in an interview published Tuesday that he wants to fight Alexander Volkanovski for the featherweight title in an effort to do something no one ever has in UFC history. Cejudo, an Olympic champion wrestler, is the former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion. No fighter has ever won titles in three UFC divisions before.

The UFC, though, seems to prefer Cejudo come back at first in the bantamweight division. Cejudo defended his title against Dominick Cruz at UFC 249 in May 2020 and then surprisingly announced his retirement in his postfight interview. Cejudo entered back into the USADA drug-testing pool in April and will be eligible to return to the Octagon in October.

«That's the only reason why I'm even going down to 135 pounds,» Cejudo said of possibly fighting Volkanovski in the future. «These dudes are not on my level — none of those dudes are at my level. And they all know it. So if I have to go down to 135 pounds [and win back] my belt to challenge Alexander Volkanovski, that's what I have to do.»

Cejudo, 35, is on a six-fight winning streak, during which he ended the record 11-fight title defense streak of Demetrious Johnson to win the flyweight belt and then beat Marlon Moraes to win the bantamweight title.

Aljamain Sterling, the current UFC bantamweight champion, is scheduled to defend against TJ Dillashaw at UFC 279 on Sept. 10 in Las Vegas. Cejudo owns a win over Dillashaw at flyweight and said he would love a crack at the winner of that bout. Cejudo pointed to longtime UFC welterweight