Henry Cejudo might be serious after all.
For over a year, Cejudo has been teasing a return to MMA, with his focus being on pursuing a fight with featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and a history-making third UFC title. Unfortunately for Cejudo, he hasn’t been gaining much traction. Both Volkanovski and UFC President Dana White have shot “Triple C” down, saying that he would need to re-enter the USADA testing pool before they could even start talking about it, and that even if he did, he’d still need to fight to earn a title shot by fighting for it. Well, Cejudo has already done the first part, and now it appears he’s looking to follow through on the second, and in his old weight class.
Over the weekend, Cejudo’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, posted a photo to his Twitter account of Cejudo meeting with top UFC officials Hunter Campbell and Sean Shelby, and issuing a warning to the UFC bantamweight division.
Shortly afterwards, Cejudo himself joined in, making it clear that his first intended target upon his return has now shifted from Volkanovski, to UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling.
Sterling and Cejudo have been here before. After Cejudo won the bantamweight title over Marlon Moraes in 2019, Sterling called for a title shot against the champ-champ, but was ultimately passed over in favor of Dominick Cruz. Cejudo then retired from the sport and Sterling won the title in controversial fashion when Petr Yan illegally kneed him in the head at UFC 259. Since then, though his focus has been primarily on Volkanovski, Cejudo has repeatedly talked trash about both Sterling and Yan. But with Sterling winning a rematch with Yan at UFC 273, there’s only one way to go for Cejudo, and the bantamweight champion appears ready to oblige him.
https://twitter.com/AliAbdelaziz00/status/1517770478974214146?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1517770478974214146%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mmafighting.com%2F2022%2F4%2F25%2F23040685%2Fmorning-report-henry-cejudo-meets-with-ufc-targeting-aljamain-sterling-for-return-sterling-responds
Following his win over Yan earlier this month, Sterling made it clear he was looking to take some time off, but when he returned he would be willing to fight T.J. Dillashaw or Henry Cejudo, if Cejudo really was coming back. And with “Triple C” seemingly realizing that this is what he needs to do for the UFC to finally let him pursue his dream of winning a third UFC title, we might finally get a fight three years in the making.
I’m coming back for these tomato cans and I’m going to right the wrong! Aljolame you the number one contender Bitch @funkmasterMMA @danawhite https://t.co/uyCaRMXDMf
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) April 23, 2022
https://twitter.com/funkmasterMMA/status/1517961096602144769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1517961096602144769%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mmafighting.com%2F2022%2F4%2F25%2F23040685%2Fmorning-report-henry-cejudo-meets-with-ufc-targeting-aljamain-sterling-for-return-sterling-responds
