UFC interim bantamweight champion Petr Yan is allegedly in need of cornermen and Henry Cejudo might be willing to join Sean O’Malley in being up for the job if his terms are met.
It was reported by multiple outlets earlier this week that members of Yan’s corner were denied visas to travel to the U.S. for UFC 273. Yan will face bantamweight titleholder Aljamain Sterling in a title rematch about a year in the making.
After news broke of Yan’s situation, he reached out to retired former UFC double champion Henry Cejudo to help out.
“Hey coach [Henry Cejudo] what are your plans on April 9th?” Yan asked.
Just hours after Yan reached out to Cejudo on social media, O’Malley recorded a video in which he appeared to agree to help corner Yan for his upcoming fight.
“One corner spot is taken by [Sean O’Malley],” Yan responded.
Henry Cejudo would respond by laying out his one condition to corner the Russian.
“Get me a booster seat and I’ll work your corner…you kneed me” #andnew“
Yan, ever the tough negotiator, responded with firmness.
“I have one condition as well, don’t try to give me your shitty advices, just bring the water and ice bag between the rounds and we’re good.”
Yan earned the interim title over Cory Sandhagen at UFC 267 after Sterling withdrew from their originally scheduled rematch due to Sterling’s health issues. The rematch was postponed a second time for UFC 273 after the UFC 272 booking fell apart for conflicting reasons.
Yan lost via disqualification to Sterling at UFC 259 after landing an illegal knee late in the fight. Before the infraction, Yan had taken control of the fight and had appeared to be on his way to a successful title defense.
O’Malley and Yan share a bit of history from a distance. Among other interactions, O’Malley has predicted that a fight with Yan down the line would be the biggest fight in UFC bantamweight history.
Despite Yan searching for help from Cejudo, the two have gone back-and-forth on social media over the past couple of years. Yan has questioned the timing of Cejudo’s retirement while Cejudo has previously teased coming out of retirement to fight him.
Cejudo has recently teased a UFC comeback and threw his name into the conversation to fight Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 273. However, the UFC opted to go with Chan Sung Jung (aka The Korean Zombie) instead of Cejudo.
Yan hasn’t had any visa issues ahead of UFC 273 and it appears that his cornermen are the only ones impacted by recent traveling challenges.
Do you think we’ll actually see Sean O’Malley or Henry Cejudo corner Petr Yan at UFC 273?
