At UFC 249, Henry Cejudo (16-2) made the walk to defend his bantamweight championship. He was taking on Dominick Cruz as he was looking to defend his bantamweight championship for the first time. Cejudo looked sensational and stopped Cruz in the second round.
After the fight was over, “Triple C” was interviewed by Joe Rogan. To the surprise of many, Cejudo announced that he was retiring from the UFC. Cejudo was the bantamweight champion but had also been the flyweight champion before relinquishing the title the year prior.
He walked away as one of if not the most decorated athlete in combat sports history. Not many can say that they were a two-division UFC champion and an Olympic Gold Medalist. However, two years after Cejudo walked away, it looks like he could be getting the itch to return.
Cejudo made it clear that one of the main reasons he walked away was money. While that’s still his biggest gripe, he seems to be barking louder and louder which signals that he could be angling for a return. He made it clear that he would return on his latest podcast with The Schmo.
Will Cejudo return to the UFC and if he does, which weight class?
When Max Holloway fell out of the UFC title fight against Alexander Volkanovski, Cejudo immediately voiced his interest. He wanted to come back to featherweight to try and capture a belt in a third weight class. While the story line is compelling, the UFC wasn’t interested and Dana White said it was nonsense.
Let’s say that Cejudo does decide to return this, year, which weight class will he return to? Well, in my personal opinion he would return to the UFC’s bantamweight division. He will never go back to flyweight and I think 135 might be his ideal weight class anyway. He also expressed interest in fighting Petr Yan on the show.
In looking at the bantamweight division, there’s not many people you could favor over Cejudo if he’s at his best. If he comes back and captures the UFC’s bantamweight title, that could easily setup a showdown for the featherweight title that could see him become “C-4″/
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