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There was a time when Henry Cejudo wanted nothing more than a fight against Alexander Volkanovski. Back in 2020, he was willing to come out of his freshly-declared retirement just to have a crack at the reigning featherweight champion.
As recently as February, Cejudo still had Volkanovski in his crosshairs. But after seeing his performance against Aljamain Sterling, Daniel Cormier is advising Cejudo to quit mentioning Volkanovski’s name.
Henry Cejudo’s history with Volkanovski
Henry Cejudo retired in 2020 after defeating former longtime champion Dominick Cruz at UFC 249. When asked what if there was something that would make him want to come out of retirement, this was his response:
“I’ve done everything in MMA. I’m satisfied with my career. There would only be one fight that would really bring me back, that would really wake me up in the morning … it would be Alexander Volkanovski.
“I want a 3rd title because I want to be different. To go into the history books as the greatest mixed martial artist of all time.”
It came to a point where it was serious enough for UFC president Dana White to address. Of course, he shut the whole thing down right off the jump.
“He’s retired,” White said of Henry Cejudo at the time. “I just did another interview where people are asking me about other retired guys. These guys are retired. I’m not even thinking about any of those guys.
“They’re retired. There are so many kids right now that are here, that want to fight. Those are the people that I’m focused on.”
Cejudo continued his campaign for the next couple of years.
Henry Cejudo advised to quit mentioning Volkanovski’s name
At 36 years old, Cejudo came out of retirement for an immediate title shot against current titleholder Aljamain Sterling. The fight went the distance, but it was “Funkmaster” who got his hand raised with a split decision win, marking his third title defense.
After seeing how that fight unfold, Cormier has this piece of advice for Henry Cejudo.
“What the fight with Aljo taught me was that Henry Cejudo should not be talking about Alexander Volkanvovski,” Cormier told Ben Askren in a recent video uploaded on his YouTube channel.
“He’s too small. Because Aljo’s length caused him some issues and Volkanovski is an absolute monster. And probably the best fighter in the world, pound-for-pound.”
Henry Cejudo’s next fight announced?
The UFC has yet to make things official, but according to Cormier, Henry Cejudo will be part of UFC 292. “DC” even dropped a name of the possible opponent and gave a reason why the said event was Cejudo supposedly chosen date.
“Henry Cejudo is gonna fight in Boston in August against Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera. Here’s the thing that is weird to me: he was asking for another title fight because he thought maybe Aljamain Sterling, who Dana bought a Lamborghini for, was not gonna fight against Sean O’Malley.
“Well, they’re fighting. So he said what matters to him is it’s 15 years to the day that he won the Olympic gold medal. But you know what’s unfortunate about that? When he says that to me, it means something. But nobody else cares.”
There indeed are rumors going around about a potential clash between Cejudo and Vera. The Ecuadorian last fought in March against Cory Sandhagen and lost via split decision, ultimately breaking a four-fight win streak.
UFC 292 happens on August 19 at the TD Garden. Still slated to headline the event is the bantamweight title fight between Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley.
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