It has been over six months since Henry Cejudo last stepped foot in the UFC Octagon when he lost his bantamweight title eliminator fight against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 298.
Since then, the former two-weight UFC champion has been weighing up his options regarding what his next move will be. Originally, Henry Cejudo returned to the bantamweight division in hopes of reclaiming his title.
The 37-year-old was hopeful that eventually he could move up to 145lbs and become the first fighter in UFC history to win a title in three separate weight classes.
Henry Cejudo considering moving back down to flyweight to fight Brandon Moreno
With things having not gone to plan for Cejudo, he has taken a considerable amount of time away from fighting as he is nursing an injury and doesn’t want to return too prematurely.
“I’ve been icing an injury now for quite some time. I want to make sure that I’m 100 percent. I’m getting back into training… It’s just allowing this injury to freaking heal,” Cejudo told MMAJunkie.
Having had time to think about his next move, Cejudo has revealed that he is considering moving back down to flyweight, the weight class in which he saw the majority of his success.
The Olympic gold medalist has highlighted fellow former flyweight champion, Brandon Moreno as a potential opponent, with the two still having not settled their longstanding feud.
Cejudo and Moreno used to train together, but their relationship turned sour when Cejudo coached on The Ultimate Fighter and Moreno was picked by Joseph Benavidez instead. Cejudo went on to lose a split decision against Benavidez.
“There could be a potential return to flyweight. There are a lot of things I’m contemplating, potentially going back down. With the bantamweight division getting hot and with newcomers coming in, there’s been a lot of thought of me going back down and getting a fight with (Brandon) Moreno and winning the belt once again.
“I’m after gold now. I think if I do go down to 125 pounds and stay disciplined, I don’t think there’s anyone that can beat me. Plus, I think there’s a fun fight with Brandon Moreno. He wanted to fight me at 135 and then backed out like a little b*tch.
“Now, I think if I go down and beat him in Mexico, in his own country, I think that could be a big-ass payday too,” Cejudo added.
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Cejudo predicts Merab Dvalishvili will stop Sean O’Malley at UFC 306
The bantamweight division has a huge fight coming at UFC 306 on September 14, as Sean O’Malley defends his title against number one contender, Merab Dvalishvili.
Cejudo has predicted that ‘The Machine’ will surprisingly stop O’Malley to become the new champion, but will then get dominated by Umar Nurmagomedov.
“Merab Dvalishvili is going to stop Sean O’Malley at the Sphere. He’s going to beat him but once Umar comes in, he’s just going to have his way with Merab. Umar is really good, really technical. I just feel like it’s going to go down the line,” Cejudo predicted.