For Henry Cejudo, his upcoming UFC 298 bout versus Merab Dvalishvili is “all or nothing.” As such, in case he loses to the opponent, “Triple C” might hang up the gloves.
Cejudo will be making his return next month after losing to Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288 in May last year. The loss was huge for Cejudo as it snapped the six-fight winning streak he was boasting prior to the event. And now that he’s booked for another fight, experiencing another loss is not an option for him. For the No. 3-ranked bantamweight fighter, it’s either he moves to the No. 1 contender fight after this or exits the cage.
“This is for the No. 1 contender spot,” Cejudo said in an interview with The HJR Experiment. “I think to have to lose it to Aljamain, I think if I was going to go maybe down the ladder, I would probably be done with fighting again because it’s just like the sport is hard, man. Training camps, having two kids, and things like that. … It’s all or nothing, man.”
While this sounds like news to some, this is not new about Cejudo. After his UFC 288 loss and coming back from a three-year hiatus, the fighter also shared pondering about the decision to retire but still accepted his UFC 298 booking.
“I just don’t know,” Cejudo told Joe Rogan after his UFC 288 fight. “You tell me. It was close but Aljamain did his job, he got the victory. It sucks man, I hate losing but it’s also been three years,” Cejudo said. “I just don’t know where to take it from here Joe, I’m a little confused right now. Whether I continue. It’s like Ricky Bobby: if I’m not first, I’m last. If I can’t beat Alja, my biggest goal was to go up to 245 pounds. If I can’t get the victory over him then I just know where that puts me.”
