LAS VEGAS – Henry Cejudo keeps hearing he deserved the win in Saturday’s co-headliner of The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale, but one thing is certain: He’s just happy to get away from Joseph Benavidez for a little bit.

During an FS1-televised bout at The Pearl at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Cejudo (10-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) and Benavidez (25-4 MMA, 12-2 UFC) concluded their “TUF 24” head-coaching gigs with a fight. It featured two of the flyweight division’s top competitors – Benavidez is No. 2 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA flyweight rankings, and Cejudo is No. 3 – and it ended in a close or heavily debated split-decision victory for Benavidez.

Should they run it back? Should they fight again and try to conclude the rivalry with a more definitive outcome?

“I know you guys may not like this answer, but I definitely need a break from him,” Cejudo said with a big laugh. “It was six months of just anticipation and waiting. Who knows what’s in store? As of now, I want to take a vacation. But I will say this: I do need a little break from him.

“Even if I won the fight, I’d need a break from him. I really do.”

A costly first-round point deduction for low blows admittedly got in Cejudo’s head – he said it gave Benavidez time to recover – and he ultimately suffered a split-decision loss (27-29, 30-26, 29-27).

“I need to re-watch that fight,” Cejudo said. “Everybody keeps telling me I won.”

According to MMADecisions.com, a site that tracks scoring (from judges, media and fans), shows an extremely close bout. Five media outlets scored the fight for Benavidez, five had it for Cejudo, and eight declared it a draw.

Heading into the final round, Cejudo wasn’t in panic mode, and afterward, his coaches gave him no indication they thought he was going to be on the wrong end of a decision, he said. However, simply because it was a back-and-forth bout, Cejudo said he wasn’t sure what to expect from the scorecards.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I always train to dominate, so sometimes when I don’t dominate – I’m so accustomed to that from wrestling – so I try to bring that same mentality into mixed martial arts. So, if that’s the way the judges saw it – I’m just tripping out by that, what was it, 26-30 or whatever that scorecard was?

” … Sometimes you don’t know what the judges are thinking or what fight they’re watching.”

A definitive win over Benavidez could help Cejudo’s title changes; Cejudo suffered a loss to current champ Demetrious Johnson in April and probably needs a few quality wins to get another shot. However, when it comes to Benavidez, who became a true rival during “TUF 24” filming and their pre-fight buildup, Cejudo is simply ready for a break.

“Man, you get so sick of somebody sometimes,” he said. ” … But I think in the future, we’ll definitely fight again sometime.”

For more on The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale, check out the UFC Events section of the site.