Don’t expect Cejudo to stick around and keep fighting if there’s no clear path to UFC gold.
It’s do or die for Henry Cejudo this weekend at UFC 298.
“Triple C” is used to having gold in his life, and if he can’t capture a UFC championship he’d rather just retire from the sport than continue on. That means beating the very tough Merab Dvalishvili on February 17th, and doing it at the relatively advanced age of 37 years old.
Much has been made about Alexander Volkanovski passing the dreaded 35-year threshold where lighter-weight fighters no longer seem statistically capable of winning title fights. Will the same issue plague Cejudo against Dvalishvili? Henry has only had one fight since returning from a three-year retirement — a loss to Aljamain Sterling in May 2023.
“Do I regret the retirement? No, not one bit,” Cejudo said in an interview with UFC.com. “As a matter of fact, when I had my injury and I was off for a year before fighting Dominick Cruz, that’s when I knew it was time to hang it up. How many people have fun when they’re injured? You know what I’m saying? I had a chance to do a lot of things, get to know myself a little bit more. So I don’t regret anything.”
“That being said, I either want it all or you can have everything. I’m either going to get the world title or that’s it for me. I’m not here to be a fighter, just sign posters, to be cool. I’m here to obtain what’s mine. Or you can have it.”
Cejudo isn’t just chasing a belt, he’s chasing G.O.A.T. status as well.
“I will go down as the greatest combat [athlete] of all time,” he said. “I’m not just cherry-picking. I fought the consensus No. 1 in the world in Aljamain [Sterling], now I’m going against the No. 1 contender in the world. Like, there’s no easy shortcuts for me. And I challenged. And I think doing that, gaining the belt, whoever wins between Sean [O’Malley] and what’s his name [Marlon Vera], that’s concrete, man. That puts you in a position where, ‘Wassup!’”
Adding another title to his resume would certainly put him at the top of that conversation. But to even get a sniff at the 135 pound belt, he’ll have to beat Merab Dvalishvili convincingly on Saturday night.