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Henry Cejudo is one of the most accomplished combat sports athletes of the 21st Century. He’s the only person to win a gold medal in the Olympics (freestyle wrestling, 2008) and become a UFC champion. Not only that but he is one of a handful of UFC fighters who’ve won titles in multiple-divisions and one of even fewer who has defended his title in multiple divisions.
He is also, as UFC fans know, a little bit of a flake. His surprise (and temporary) retirement in 2020 after beating Dominick Cruz was probably his flakiest moment but not his last. He was back by 2023 and lost a close decision to then-Bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288.
Henry Cejudo says it’s win or walk away at UFC 298
Now Henry is booked for UFC 298 against the formidable Merab Dvalishvili and his 9 fight UFC win streak…. or is he?
“This is for the No. 1 contender spot,” Cejudo said in a recent interview (transcript via MMA Fighting). “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.”
Cejudo almost retired after Sterling loss
It’ll be no surprise if Henry retires again win or lose. Cejudo took his gloves off at UFC 288, a traditional means of signaling retirement.
“I just don’t know, Joe, I just don’t know. You tell me,” Cejudo said to Joe Rogan, in regards to his loss to Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288.
“It was close, but Aljamain did his job, he got the victory. It sucks, I hate losing. But, it’s also been three years. I just don’t know where this puts me, Joe. I’m a little confused. It’s like 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 lbs, if I can’t get the victory over him, I don’t know where that puts me.”
“I think we go back and think about it,” Cejudo said when prodded about retirement. “Like I said, if I’m not first I’m last. I wanna talk to Dana, but I gotta talk to my wife and, who knows, man? This may be the last of me in the Octagon.”
UFC 298 Fight Card
Here’s what we’re looking at for UFC 298 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA on Feb. 17, 2024.
Main card PPV
Featherweight Alexander Volkanovski (c) vs. Ilia Topuria
Middleweight Robert Whittaker vs. Paulo Costa
Welterweight Geoff Neal vs. Ian Machado Garry
Bantamweight Merab Dvalishvili vs. Henry Cejudo
Middleweight Anthony Hernandez vs. Roman Kopylov
Preliminary card ESPN / ESPN+
Women’s Strawweight Amanda Lemos vs. Mackenzie Dern
Heavyweight Marcos Rogério de Lima vs. Justin Tafa
Bantamweight Rinya Nakamura vs. Carlos Vera
Middleweight A.J. Dobson vs. Tresean Gore
Early preliminary card ESPN+ / UFC Fight Pass
Light Heavyweight Zhang Mingyang vs. Brendson Ribeiro
Welterweight Josh Quinlan vs. Danny Barlow
Welterweight Oban Elliott vs. Val Woodburn
Women’s Flyweight Andrea Lee vs. Miranda Maverick