The former UFC bantamweight and flyweight champion is considering a comeback, with his manager Ali Abdelaziz likely to contact the US Anti-Doping Agency on Monday to re-enter him into the drug testing pool.
On Sunday, Abdelaziz verified the news to MMA Fighting.
“Henry is one of the greatest fighters ever seen,” Abdelaziz told MMA Fighting. “I think the fans and all of us wanna see him come back. He is gonna focus on his fighting stuff, I’m gonna focus on the business side of things.
“I believe we will see him back end of the summer.”
After defending the UFC bantamweight title against Dominick Cruz at UFC 249, the 2008 Olympic gold medallist in wrestling announced his retirement in unexpected fashion two years ago.
Cejudo’s sixth consecutive victory comprised victories at 135 and 125 pounds, allowing him to capture gold at both weights.
Cejudo defeated Cruz, Marlon Moraes, T.J. Dillashaw, Demetrious Johnson, and Sergio Pettis during that stretch, putting him in contention for the title of top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport at the time.
Cejudo has regularly hinted at a possible comeback after retirement, however he never returned to the USADA drug testing pool. Before they may compete again, all former boxers must go through six months of testing.
This follows two UFC title fights on Saturday night in divisions that intrigue Cejudo into making a comeback. Alexander Volkanovski regained his UFC featherweight title over Chan Sung Jung, and Aljamain Sterling defeated Petr Yan to unify the bantamweight title at UFC 273 in Jacksonville, Florida.
After the fights Saturday night, Cejudo tweeted, “I’m getting back in the pool!!”
“Henry will focus on his fight and training,” Abdelaziz said. “He never stopped training. I truly believe Henry can come back to win the 135 [bantamweight] title and go up to 145 [featherweight] and win that. He will be the only fighter in UFC history to win three world titles.”
Cejudo vs Volkanovski?
Cejudo has been addressing UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski since essentially winning the title in December 2019, and Volkanovski has responded.
Volkanovski, who won his third championship defence by finishing “The Korean Zombie” at UFC 273, has previously been dismissive of Cejudo. However, after defeating Jung, Volkanovski knows he doesn’t have many options outside of a Max Holloway trilogy and has begun to consider Cejudo as a prospective opponent.
Cejudo aspires to be the first fighter in UFC history to hold titles in three weight classes. One potential issue: UFC president Dana White has already stated that Cejudo will not be able to return to any division for an instant title opportunity. So, until White’s position has changed, we’ll see how this plays out.
