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Dana White is fine with Henry Cejudo potentially retiring again after his loss to Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288 this past Saturday. The former two-division UFC champion returned from a three-year retirement for an immediate championship opportunity against Sterling, the reigning champ with two successful defenses on his résumé thus far.
The ‘Funk Master’ added a third defense with a split decision win against Cejudo, who was caught on cameras removing his gloves after the very close fight. Removing gloves is one of the signs that a fighter is going to retire, but ‘Triple C’ stopped short of announcing if that was indeed in his post-fight plans.
“It was close, but Aljamain did his job and got the victory,” said Cejudo in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. “It sucks. I hate losing, but its also been three years and I just don’t know where to take it from here, Joe. I’m a little confused right now. Whether I continue — if I’m not first, it’s like [fictional character from Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby] Ricky Bobby, if I’m not first, I’m last.
“If I can’t beat Aljo, my biggest goal was to go up to 145 pounds,” continued Cejudo. “If I couldn’t get the victory over him, then I just don’t know where that puts me.”
As mentioned in his post-fight interview with Rogan, the Fight Ready representative said he would want to talk to UFC president Dana White and his wife to decide what happens next after this loss.
“I’ve got to lay back,” said Cejudo at his post-fight press conference. “My wife’s pregnant. We’re getting ready to have another kid. Even these last two to three months, not being able to give my kid that attention — I’m a good father, man. I love spending time with my kid. I love playing with her. And just cutting weight, not holding her, kind of neglecting her, having my training partners play with her, that’s the stuff that means a lot to me. A lot of you guys don’t give a f—k, but the time with my kid means the world to me, especially the fact that I have another one on the way.”
Dana White thoughts on Henry Cejudo potentially retiring
Dana White addressed another potential retirement from Cejudo, and the UFC president wants to leave that decision to the former champion. Though impressed with his performance against Sterling, White said he would support Cejudo if he stays or goes.
“There’s only been a couple of guys I’ve tried to talk out of retiring at the time that they did,” said White at his post-fight press conference. “It was [Daniel Cormier] and [Khabib Nurmagomedov]. Henry’s been off for three years. He looked great tonight against a guy, who is much bigger and much stronger.
“That’s up to him,” continued White. “Whatever he wants. I mean, I don’t think he should have retired the first time, but if he decides to retire a second time, I probably wouldn’t argue with him.”
Henry Cejudo’s next options
Should Cejudo decide to stay, there are a few options he would consider for his next fight. UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno wanted Cejudo to ‘wait for him’ after his upcoming defense against Alexandre Pantoja. For Cejudo, he would accept a fight with the ‘Assassin Baby’ — for a good amount of money.
“If the UFC wants to put it together, and there’s a nice little budget for both of us,” said Cejudo. “I ain’t doing it in Mexico, though. Hell no. We can do it here in America or something like that. I’m not opposed to any of that.”
Cejudo would also entertain Merab Dvalishvili, the other Serra-Longo Fight Team student, who Cejudo declared as ‘easy money’ if they were to fight.
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