Former UFC champ Henry Cejudo: I'll unretire if it 'makes sense for me financially'
Even before former UFC double champion Henry Cejudo (16-2-0) called himself the greatest combat sports competitor of all time leading up to his retirement following a win over Dominick Cruz at UFC 249 in May, journalists and fans began speculating on when the 33-year-old would return to the Octagon.
Cejudo touched upon the subject while speaking with ESPN on Friday.
"Show me the money," Cejudo said. "That's it. I've got my legacy. My legacy is written. Everybody knows what I'm after. I'm out here chasing green now. That's what I want. I've got all the gold. I want the green."
Cejudo added that he's co-hosting a podcast with legendary boxer Mike Tyson and could take part in a future edition of "Dancing With the Stars." He also claimed to be drawing interest from World Wrestling Entertainment and All Elite Wrestling.
Cejudo and Tyson were involved in a televised AEW segment in late May.
"If that lucky number does come up, I'll be back this year if they want," Cejudo explained. "I'm in shape, I'm ready for anything. But I ain't doing it just because people want to see me fight. I'm doing it because it makes sense for me financially."
Ali Abdelaziz, Cejudo's manager, generated buzz last weekend when he tweeted he "predicts" Cejudo will return to fighting next year. Cejudo, however, suggested that WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle could lure him into the squared-circle.
"[Angle] wants me in the WWE," Cejudo told ESPN. "He wants me to do some things there. There could be some potential things with the WWE as well. There's a lot, man. C'mon man — you think I'm out here picking my nose?"
WWE and UFC aren't business partners but have enjoyed interesting agreements over the past several years. WWE allowed former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, then under contract to the wrestling promotion, to fight Mark Hunt at UFC 200 in July 2016, and Lesnar also challenged Daniel Cormier in the summer of 2018:
Fighters such as Cormier and Cris Cyborg have been permitted to train at the WWE Performance Center while under UFC deals.
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