Henry Cejudo as confident as ever in UFC 288 return to face champion Aljamain Sterling
Henry Cejudo reacts after defeating TJ Dillashaw in the first round during their UFC Flyweight title match at UFC Fight Night at Barclays Center on January 19, 2019. Credit: Getty Images
In some ways, Henry Cejudo doesn’t want to be here.
In May 2020, Cejudo had little left to accomplish and called it a career, relinquishing his UFC bantamweight belt and adding a marriage and a baby following soon after (and a second child is due in October).
“This has been the best three years of my life,” Cejudo told Newsday. “I’d rather continue to keep living the life that I’m living.”
Then why put that life on pause and return to an existence of intense workouts, weight cuts, punches and publicity?
Cejudo, 36, believes he’s obligated not to waste the talent that helped him win an Olympic gold medal in wrestling and UFC championships in two weight classes, finding new goals for his pent-up ambition.
“When you know how good you are, you don’t want to sacrifice that gift, because there is a timeline, and we all do get older,” Cejudo said.
And so Cejudo is here, set for a bantamweight title match against defending champion Aljamain Sterling of Uniondale at UFC 288 on Saturday at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. It's Cejudo's first step in proving he’s still among combat sports’ greatest competitors and potentially able to reach new heights.
Cejudo said his interest in competing was reignited about a year ago while helping other fighters who sought his expertise, including former UFC champions Jon Jones and Demetrious Johnson.
“I was just waiting for my heart to come about and to rekindle that love that I once had for competition,” Cejudo said. “Coaching these guys the last few years, I was like, ‘I’m too good, man. I’m too good to let it go now.’ With my accolades, I really don’t need to prove anything to anybody, but I want to challenge myself and see if whatever I say, I’m really able to put it together and bring it together.”
He also waited for the right matchup to make his comeback, and he believes he’s found it in Sterling. Cejudo has been openly critical of Sterling’s time as champion, which began with a disqualification victory over Petr Yan and most recently saw Sterling defeat TJ Dillashaw.
“I think his title reign has been as weird as it gets,” Cejudo said. “He won it via Academy Award in his first fight with Yan. The second fight with Yan, I rewatched that fight and I felt like he lost, and the third fight he fought a dude with one arm. I’m just not impressed.”
Sterling held his challenger in a bit higher esteem.
“To me, I think Henry is going to be the toughest dude I’ve ever faced because he does have that wrestling background,” Sterling said. “I’m not ignoring it, I just think he would rather me get in my own head to be defensive and nervous about shooting, and I’m not going to do that . . . I just need him to take one slip, one false step and I’m on his back, and that fight’s as good as over.”
Cejudo believes Sterling, a Serra-Longo fighter, gives his opponents the most trouble with wrestling transitions, but he's sure it won’t be an issue in their fight given his background.
“This is why even if Aljamain wasn’t the champ and they said, ‘pick a top 10,’ I would have loved to have picked Aljamain to come back, that’s how confident I am in this fight,” Cejudo said.
Cejudo, also a former UFC flyweight, expects to leave the cage Saturday wearing the bantamweight belt and plans to be back in action again at 135 pounds before his family expands in a few months. If all goes well, he’s hoping to achieve something even he’s yet to do soon after.
“My goal is to win a third belt, to become the first three-division champion in history,” Cejudo said. “That’s what I’m after.”
Ryan Gerbosi is an internet news manager for sports at Newsday.com. He also covers NYCFC and mixed martial arts and believes the designated hitter should be banned from baseball.
