Henry Cejudo wants to take Cody Garbrandt under his wing.

Since retiring from MMA in 2020, Cejudo has thrived in his coaching role. The former UFC dual champion has worked with numerous fighters, from former light heavyweight king Jon Jones, to former strawweight champ Zhang Weili, to current No. 1 contenders Chan Sung Jung and Jiri Prochazka, and Deiveson Figueiredo, who was able to reclaim his flyweight title from Brandon Moreno with Cejudo in his corner.

Although Cejudo and Garbrandt (12-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC) have traded barbs in the past, Cejudo revealed that he reached out to Garbrandt and offered to help him turn his career around.

“I talked to Cody Gabrandt, too, a little bit because I still think he has the talent,” Cejudo said in an interview with Helen Yee. “There’s a lot of opportunity for him to continue to keep growing, and I think whatever it is that he’s done in the past, I just want to guide him. I don’t necessarily want him here full time but just give him a two cents of how is it that I think he should probably train. How is it that he should probably take the distance because Cody is so technical, he shouldn’t be in fist fights. He needs to just technically pick you apart. …

“We talked to him on the phone. He’s good friends with Ali (Abdelaziz). I’m looking out for him. I think his career, it blossomed in the beginning, and it’s just a lot of trial and error, and just fighting emotional has cost him.”

Since his masterclass performance to dethrone Dominick Cruz and capture the bantamweight title in 2016, Garbrandt has lost five of his past six, four by knockout. In his most recent outing, Garbrandt was stopped by Kai Kara-France in the first round at UFC 269, falling short in his flyweight debut.