Henry Cejudo came out of retirement to reclaim the bantamweight title. However, given that Triple C’s effort was unsuccessful, the question of what comes next for Henry is legitimate. In the post-fight news conference, Dana White made an intriguing disclosure while discussing Cejudo.
Henry, a former double champion, shocked everyone by announcing his return after a three-year hiatus. Cejudo had the chance to win the championship in his return bout against Aljamain Sterling, the current bantamweight champion, as one of the only four fighters in UFC history to simultaneously hold belts in two separate weight classes.
Henry Cejudo says he failed at his mission to reclaim UFC gold, and it's as simple as that.#UFC288 | Full story: https://t.co/JvuXNuFY42 pic.twitter.com/Ne1eoIekzG
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) May 8, 2023
However, despite pulling off an outstanding octagon performance in the UFC 288 main event at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, the former flyweight and bantamweight champion was defeated by the Funk Master. The judges gave Sterling a split decision victory against Triple C with scores of 48-47, 47-48, and 48-47.
What did Dana White say regarding the future of Henry Cejudo?
After losing to Sterling, the 36-year-old MMA fighter isn’t sure if he’ll keep continuing his octagon journey. When discussing Henry’s future, the UFC president made a hitherto unheard-of disclosure.
“There’s only been a couple of guys I’ve tried to talk out of retiring at the time that they did. It was [Daniel Cormier] and [Khabib Nurmagomedov]. Henry’s been off for three years. He looked great tonight against a guy, who is much bigger and much stronger.” said Dana.
The world was stunned by The Eagle’s abrupt retirement, so it makes sense that Dana wanted to retain the former lightweight kingpin for a few more years given Khabib’s outstanding performance in the octagon. But if Henry made a second retirement decision, would Dana ask him to stay in the same way?
“That’s up to him. Whatever he wants. I mean, I don’t think he should have retired the first time, but if he decides to retire a second time, I probably wouldn’t argue with him.” Dana added.
Congrats to @funkmasterMMA on a competitive fight. My goal was to finish Aljo, and I fell short.
What's next? If I can't make history, then I'm not doing this sh*t. I’m addicted to gold and climbing mountains. All I can say is — stay tuned 🏆🏆🏆
📽️: https://t.co/RC7zoWZf3O pic.twitter.com/P8hUgOO9mv
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) May 8, 2023
Henry appeared to be very motivated to succeed in Newark, but it didn’t work out. The 36-year-old fighter has already expressed the intention of taking his weight to 145 pounds as he also wants to win the featherweight title. Will he go after the realm of Alexander Volkanovski, though? I suppose Henry is the only one who can reveal his plans.
As a fan, what do you believe Henry Cejudo should do—retire and preserve his legacy, or put on some weight and enter the featherweight division? Comment below and let us know what you think.
