Former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo has a massive fight against Merab Dvalishvili on the horizon at UFC 298 in Anaheim, California on February 7th, and the stakes couldn’t be higher as he sees it as either a gateway to a title shot if he wins, or a signal that it’s time to retire if he loses.
“This is for the No. 1 contender spot,” Cejudo said on ‘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.”
Meanwhile, Cejudo admitted that while he had come out of retirement to prove he’s still got what it takes to win the title, money was also a big factor too.
“It’s more of a motivation of vengeance. It’s not always the love. Even coming back to the sport, I was like, ‘I want to test myself.’ I like the matchup (vs. Sterling). It has been three years, but it was also the financial compensation. I mean, there’s nothing easier to make money than the fight game.”
Cejudo only narrowly lost to Sterling by split-decision in their title last fight year despite coming off a three year layoff from the sport. He now faces another daunting challenge in Dvalishvili, who has gone nine-fights unbeaten in the Octagon over the past five years, so whoever emerges victorious will certainly be a worthy title contender.
