Henry Cejudo, a former two-weight champion in the UFC, has expressed his desire to reclaim the bantamweight title. Cejudo relinquished the title three years ago but is now prepared to do anything to get it back. He recently suffered a split decision loss against Aljamain Sterling in their 135-pound championship bout at UFC 288, but Cejudo believed he did enough to win the fight. The 36-year-old is not thinking about retirement again and is fully committed to regaining the title.
Cejudo is targeting the number one ranked bantamweight contender, Merab Dvalishvili, as his next opponent. The fight would take place in the fall, as Dvalishvili is currently recovering from surgery on his right hand. Cejudo is hoping that this fight will be his fastest return to a title shot. Another option for Cejudo is to move up to 145 pounds, which was his goal when he came out of retirement.
Cejudo said he’s still interested in moving up and would want his first fight at featherweight to be against former champion and pound-for-pound candidate Max Holloway. However, he still believes the UFC would be in favor of such a move only once he proves himself again at bantamweight. Cejudo is willing to drop to 125 again only for a substantial payday.
Cejudo believes that he needs leverage to move up to featherweight. He campaigned for the title before, but the UFC did not offer him a fast track to the title. The company would have likely gotten onboard had Cejudo beaten Sterling and defended the belt once against Sean O’Malley. Once he gets his momentum going, Cejudo believes he can again prove himself and that the UFC would be interested in offering him a chance to become the first three-weight champ in UFC history.
Former UFC champion Henry Cejudo is determined to regain the bantamweight title. He has expressed his plans to fight Merab Dvalishvili in the fall and is also interested in moving up to 145 pounds to fight Max Holloway. Cejudo believes he needs leverage to move up to featherweight, and until then, he is willing to drop to 125 again only for a substantial payday.
Leave a Reply