TUESDAY NEWS DIGEST 1/22: TJ Dillashaw’s manager open to Cejudo rematch at bantamweight, and more

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Run it back

Immediately after losing in 32 seconds to Henry Cejudo on Saturday night, TJ Dillashaw felt that the fight was ‘stolen’ from him by an early stoppage and that if there was going to be a rematch between the two, it should be at flyweight rather than for Dillashaw’s bantamweight championship. Now a few days removed from the upset, Dillashaw’s manager, Tiki Ghosn, is open to having the fight at 135 as long as it happens.

“I think it definitely needs to be run back,” Ghosn told MMAjunkie Radio. “It needs to be run back at whatever weight – it just needs to happen again.”

Ghosn wasn’t as critical of the stoppage as Dillashaw was but he did acknowledge that even if it’s a fair stoppage, it’s hard for a fighter to accept such a quick loss after months of intense preparation.

“The whole thing is unfortunate – it sucks – and that’s not to take anything away from Cejudo,” Ghosn said. “Being a fighter, I know what these guys go through. I know they’re both prepared and trained their asses off for it. And if it was the flipside, too, and it was the other way around, it would suck. The whole thing’s unfortunate.”

Bantamweight certainly has its list of contenders but Henry Cejudo, should he want it, should be at the top of that list.

Tuesday Notebook

-Allen Crowder told Luke Thomas on “The MMA Hour” that he doesn’t think Greg Hardy’s illegal knee was intentional and that it was just the action of a green fighter. “I don’t think he was looking for a way out,” Crowder said. “I think it’s more inexperience. He’s not been doing this very long.”

-Colby Covington told BJPenn radio that he plans to stand up to UFC on behalf of all fighters. “I’m standing up for all the fighters that don’t have a f*cking platform, that can’t stand up against the UFC and have to take everything the UFC gives them. All the sh*t the UFC gives them, f*cks all the fighters on the pay and just expects you to do things on a drop of a dime when they want it.” (transcribed by MMAFigthing)

-Gian Villante vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk is booked for UFC Prague on Feb. 23.

In case you missed it

–NEW PODCAST: MMATorch interview with Jake Hager (aka Jack Swagger)

–FREE PODCAST 1/21 – PWTorch Dailycast – MMA Talk for Pro Wrestling Fans: Vallejos and Monsey review several angles from UFC’s ESPN debut, including future of men’s flyweight division, Greg Hardy’s DQ, and Cerrone-McGregor, preview Bellator 214, more (76 min)

–Jack Swagger on returning to WWE after MMA run: ‘I want to go back there’

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