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Henry Cejudo plans second retirement if he misses out on title fight after UFC 298 return: ‘That’s it for me’

Henry Cejudo weighs up second retirement if he misses title fight after UFC 298 that's it for me Former two-division champion, Henry Cejudo has admitted that if he fails in his next attempt to land the undisputed…

Former two-division champion, Henry Cejudo has admitted that if he fails in his next attempt to land the undisputed bantamweight crown for the second time ahead of his comeback at UFC 298 – he will likely hang up his glimmering gloves once again.

Cejudo, the current number three ranked bantamweight contender, former divisional champion and prior flyweight best, has been sidelined since he headlined UFC 288 back in May of last year, dropping a split decision loss to former undisputed titleholder, Aljamain Sterling in New Jersey.

And making his return to competition this weekend in a high-profile main card fight at UFC 298 in Anaheim, Cejudo – an Olympic gold medal winner to boot, takes on surging Georgian contender, Merab Dvalishvili in a potential championship eliminator at the bantamweight limit.

Henry Cejudo weighs up retirement after UFC 298

With an eye firmly placed on the outcome of next month’s UFC 299 headliner between incumbent gold holder, Sean O’Malley, and incoming title chaser, Marlon Vera, Cejudo boldly claimed that if he misses out on striking gold at the weight class in the future, his retirement will be a definite one.

“That being said, I either want it all or you can have everything,” Henry Cejudo told UFC.com during a recent interview. “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.”

“I will go down as the greatest combat [athlete] of all time,” Henry Cejudo explained. “I’m not just cherry-picking [fights], I fought the consensus number one in the world in Aljamain (Sterling), now I’m going against the number one contender in the world. Like, there’s not easy shortcuts for me. And I challenged.” (H/T MMA Mania)

And ahead of UFC 298, Cejudo appeared to cut ties with long-time head coach, Eric Albarracin for his fight with Tbilisi native, Dvalishvili, however, later in the week, the Los Angeles-born fighter later doubled back – claiming the entire conversation between the two was part of a joke devised.

Henry Cejudo removes longtime coach Eric Albarracin from his fight camp ahead of UFC 298

It’s either win or go home for Henry Cejudo on February 17. The former two-division world champion returns to…

It’s either win or go home for Henry Cejudo on February 17.

The former two-division world champion returns to the Octagon at UFC 298 in Anaheim nine months removed from his split decision loss against then-bantamweight titleholder Aljamain Sterling. This time, ‘Triple C’ will square off with Sterling’s best friend and No. 2 ranked contender at 135, Merab Dvalishvili.

If Cejudo wins, he will likely face the winner of next month’s bantamweight title tilt between defending champ ‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley and Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera. But if he loses, it could bring an end to his iconic UFC career.

“This is for the No. 1 contender spot,” Cejudo said in an interview on The HJR Experiment. “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.”

Facing a do-or-die situation, Henry Cejudo is taking some extreme steps to give himself the best possible shot at snapping Dvalishvili’s nine-fight win streak. During the latest episode of UFC Countdown, ‘Triple C’ broke the news to his longtime coach — Eric Albarracin — that his services would not be needed for what could be the final fight camp of Cejudo’s career.

“You were with me for my last Olympic trials,” Cejudo told Albarracin. “You’ve been there for me, but as of right now… I just want to let you know for this camp, I’m getting rid of specific coaches. You included.”

Henry Cejudo removes Coach Eric Albarracin on the latest episode of UFC Countdown: pic.twitter.com/SCAT4iMRxJ

— Oscar Willis (@oscarswillis) February 11, 2024

“Sometimes you are too close to somebody and people just get too comfortable,” Cejudo added.

Throughout his illustrious run as a mixed martial arts coach, Albarracin has coached Bellator stars Patricio Pitbull and Patricky Pitbull, former UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo, one-time UFC title challenger Paulo Costa, and the recently retired ‘Korean Zombie’ Chan Sung Jung. All in all, he has coached 13 world champions.

Cejudo’s decision to relieve Albarracin of his duties ahead of UFC 298 earned mixed reactions from fight fans — some commending the Olympic gold medalist for doing whatever it takes to win while others disparaged his decision to break the news on camera.

“Great to see Cejudo’s willing to do whatever it takes.”

“Interesting move by Triple C.”

“Bringing a camera crew to have that conversation with someone is wild.”

“He’s going all in.”

“That had to be hard for Cejudo and of course, it’s gonna hurt Eric it’d be weird if it didn’t sting a little but they’re pros they know what they need.”

“Why is this idiot doing it on camera?”

UFC Hall of Famer believes Ilia Topuria has set himself up for Conor McGregor-like ascent to superstardom

If Ilia Topuria gets the job done against Alexander Volkanovski, it could trigger his Conor McGregor-like ascent to superstardom….

If Ilia Topuria gets the job done against Alexander Volkanovski, it could trigger his Conor McGregor-like ascent to superstardom.

That is according to UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier who believes that ‘El Matador’ has done an excellent job of setting himself up to cash in should he leave Anaheim’s Honda Center with featherweight gold wrapped around his waist on February 17.

“[Topuria’s confidence] reminds me of Conor about to fight Jose Aldo,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “He told you, and he was so sure that he was going to get it done that you knew that if it happened, he would become a star that we’ve never seen in the UFC before or in fighting. So, when it happened, he went to the moon. I feel like Ilia Topuria is setting himself up to have that type of ascent if he can deliver on all of the promises that he is making.”

Ilia Topuria Faces His Toughest Test at UFC 298

Topuria has been brimming with confidence ever since his fight with reigning 145-pound champ Alexander Volkanovski was announced. And why wouldn’t he? He’s 14-0 in his mixed martial arts career with six of those victories coming under the UFC banner.

But he’s never fought someone like ‘The Great’

Ilia Topuria’s strength of schedule isn’t exactly doing him any favors in the eyes of his skeptics. After all, he only holds two victories over fighters in the featherweight top 15 — Bryce Mitchell and Josh Emmett. To his credit, Emmett is a former interim title challenger, but Mitchell is yet to prove himself as anything more than a mouthpiece for crazy conspiracy theories.

Still, ‘El Matador’ is confident that he’ll put away Volkanovski inside the distance. So much so that he’s already added “UFC world champion” to his social media profiles and is actively working on a documentary that follows his journey from contender to would-be king.

“It seems like all [Topuria] wants to do is put pressure on himself,” Cormier said. “This dude has now said he’s releasing a movie on becoming the champion of the world, this dude has updated his [social media] bio with another win and he’s now the UFC featherweight champion.

“This dude has stated he wants to fight in the same stadium where Real Madrid plays football in Spain. This dude has said to anyone that will listen how Alexander Volkanovski can not compete with him. Most people under these circumstances want to release the pressure. Not this dude” (h/t MMA Fighting).

Are you buying into Ilia Topuria’s self-imposed hype, or do you think his overabundance of confidence is going to blow up in his face come fight night?

UFC Hall of Famer believes Ilia Topuria has set himself up for Conor McGregor-like ascent to superstardom

If Ilia Topuria gets the job done against Alexander Volkanovski, it could trigger his Conor McGregor-like ascent to superstardom….

If Ilia Topuria gets the job done against Alexander Volkanovski, it could trigger his Conor McGregor-like ascent to superstardom.

“[Topuria’s confidence] reminds me of Conor about to fight Jose Aldo,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “He told you, and he was so sure that he was going to get it done that you knew that if it happened, he would become a star that we’ve never seen in the UFC before or in fighting. So, when it happened, he went to the moon. I feel like Ilia Topuria is setting himself up to have that type of ascent if he can deliver on all of the promises that he is making.”

Ilia Topuria Faces His Toughest Test at UFC 298

But he’s never fought someone like ‘The Great’

“It seems like all [Topuria] wants to do is put pressure on himself,” Cormier said. “This dude has now said he’s releasing a movie on becoming the champion of the world, this dude has updated his [social media] bio with another win and he’s now the UFC featherweight champion.

“This dude has stated he wants to fight in the same stadium where Real Madrid plays football in Spain. This dude has said to anyone that will listen how Alexander Volkanovski can not compete with him. Most people under these circumstances want to release the pressure. Not this dude” (h/t MMA Fighting).

Are you buying into Ilia Topuria’s self-imposed hype, or do you think his overabundance of confidence is going to blow up in his face come fight night?

Video – UFC 298’s Alexander Volkanovski offers hilarious response to claims that he’s ‘too old’ to fight

Alexander Volkanovski doesn’t have gray hairs. They’re just wisdom highlights. On Saturday, February 17 the reigning featherweight world champion…

Alexander Volkanovski doesn’t have gray hairs. They’re just wisdom highlights.

On Saturday, February 17 the reigning featherweight world champion will return to the Octagon determined to defend his title for the sixth time against undefeated standout Ilia Topuria. Leading up to their highly anticipated clash inside the Honda Center at UFC 298, ‘The Great’ has been inundated with comments from fight fans suggesting that the 35-year-old’s best days are behind him.

Instead of biting back at his skeptics, Volkanovski decided to lean into the narrative that he’s “too old” to fight via a hilarious promo in partnership with Sportsbet. In the clip— which you can see below — the champ takes part in a series of adventures commonly associated with the elderly. Gardening, falling asleep seconds after popping a videotape into the VCR (everyone under 25 can learn what that is right here), bickering with his neighbors, and running off some sidewalk skateboarders.

Sportsbooks have Volkanovski vs. Topuria as a Pick’em

Alexander Volkanovski is a cool 13-0 inside the Octagon as a featherweight, but after suffering not one, but two losses against current lightweight titleholder Islam Makhachev in 2023, it is feared that ‘The Great’ may have lost a step or two.

As for Topuria, the first-time title challenger is coming in on a hot streak, winning his first 14 career fights, six of them coming under the UFC banner.

Currently, DraftKings has the bout listed as a pick’em with both Volkanovski and Topuria sitting at a -110.