Henry Cejudo made his return to the octagon in 2023 when he was defeated by Aljamain Sterling via split decision at UFC 288 after spending the previous three years retired. The No.3-ranked bantamweight will face Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 298, with a title opportunity likely on the line.
‘Triple C’ recently revealed that if he is unable to defeat the No.1-ranked bantamweight, he will likely retire once again.
Speaking on The HJR Experiment, Henry Cejudo stated:
“This is for the No.1 contender spot. I think after losing to Aljamain, I think if I was going to go maybe down the ladder, I would probably be done with fighting again. Yeah, man, because it’s just like, this sport is hard, man. Training camps, having two kids and things like that… It’s all or nothing, man.”
Henry Cejudo added that he is fueled by vengeance after his loss to Sterling:
“It’s more of a motivation of vengeance. You know what I’m saying? It’s not always the love. Like, no not really, man… Even coming back to the sport, I was like, ‘alright, man, I want to test myself, I like the matchup, it has been three years’, but it was also the financial compensation. I mean, there’s nothing easier to make money than the fight game.”
Henry Cejudo is one of just four fighters in UFC history to achieve double champ status, defending both belts. He vacated the bantamweight title upon his retirement and fought for the belt in his return. The No.3-ranked bantamweight is hoping to make one final title push before calling it quits on a legendary combat sports career that also includes an Olympic gold medal in freestyle wrestling.