Henry Cejudo teases return to retirement with UFC 298 loss: “This sport is hard, man”

Former UFC dual-weight champion Henry Cejudo might not be back for long.

‘Triple C’ has been out of the octagon since a title fight with Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288 last May. The bout ended a three-year-long hiatus for Henry Cejudo. He famously announced his retirement after a knockout win over Dominick Cruz in May 2020. However, he couldn’t keep away from the cage forever.

Ultimately, the former dual-weight champion suffered a split-decision loss to ‘The Funk Master’ last year. However, Henry Cejudo was undeterred and later booked his return to the cage opposite Merab Dvalishvili. The fight serves as a potential title eliminator for both men, and they’re aware of that.

Speaking to The HJR Experiment, Henry Cejudo previewed his return to the cage, slated for UFC 288 next month. There, the former champion opened up quite a bit. One interesting comment is that he could potentially retire once again with a loss to Merab Davlishvili. For Cejudo, the logic of the decision is relatively simple.

With a loss to Dvalishvili, Cejudo would’ve dropped two in a row, and be winless for nearly four years. The 36-year-old is aware that he would have to do a lot of work to get back to title contention. Along with that, Cejudo admitted that he’s not really into fighting, just for the sake of it. Yes, the financial financial aspect is nice.

However, he also wants to be the best in the world at what he’s doing. When he returned to fighting last year, that was to prove that he was still the best at 135 pounds. If he can’t show that, he’s not interested in staying around solely for the business of fighting.

RELATED: ALEXANDER VOLKANOVSKI VOWS TO EMBARRASS ILIA TOPURIA IN UFC 298 RETURN: “I AM STILL THAT GUY”

Henry Cejudo reveals that he could retire with a loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 298

“This [fight] is for the number one contender spot. I think if after losing to Aljamain, if I had to go down the ladder, I would probably be done fighting again.” Henry Cejudo admitted on The HJR Experiment podcast earlier this week. “Yeah, man. This sport is hard man, training camps, having two kids, things like that. It’s all or nothing, man.”

He continued,”…It’s more of a motivation of vengeance [why I returned]. It’s not always the love [of the sport], not really man. Even coming back to the sport, I wanted to test myself. I liked the matchup, it has been three years, but also the financial compensation. There’s nothing easier to make money than the fight game… [I’m] not really [young] man, I don’t feel those highs. Even with fighting. People talk about [fighting] in front of 25,000 people, I can give two f*cks.”

“…It could start with love [for fighting], but at the end of the day you’re so far in it that you almost start, like it becomes a business.” Henry Cejudo concluded. “That’s kind of where I find myself.”

What do you make of these comments from Henry Cejudo? Do you believe he will defeat Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 288?