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Ever since his “retirement” after his win over Dominick Cruz at UFC 249, Henry Cejudo has been teasing a return to the Octagon, largely through his Twitter account.
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If Henry Cejudo, who retired as the UFC’s reigning Bantamweight champion, is to return to the UFC, who should he face in his return bout?
With Triple C being capable of fighting at Flyweight, Bantamweight and Featherweight, there is no shortage of possible opponents for the 2008 Olympic gold medallist.
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With that in mind, here are five potential opponents for Henry Cejudo if he returns to the UFC.
#1 The winner of Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan
The most obvious return bout for Henry Cejudo would be a fight that would see him challenge for the UFC Bantamweight title that he never officially lost.
The only issue with that is that right now, the UFC Bantamweight title is somewhat disputed.
Aljamain Sterling is the reigning champion, but he won the title by disqualification in a fight with Petr Yan that most observers felt he was losing.
With so much controversy around the result of that fight, it seems like the UFC will likely book an immediate rematch as soon as they can.
Sterling has suggested that he’d be willing to defend his title against Cejudo rather than take on Yan in an immediate rematch. However, that seems very unfair to Yan, who a lot of fans still see as the rightful champion.
In this scenario, then, the best option for Triple C would simply be to wait a few more months, let Sterling and Yan have their rematch, and challenge the winner.
And if he were willing to step in should either man drop out of said rematch, then it’d be all the better for both Cejudo and the UFC.
#2 T.J. Dillashaw
It’s a well-known fact that Henry Cejudo and T.J. Dillashaw have an existing feud dating back to their fight for the UFC Flyweight title in 2019.
That fight saw Dillashaw drop to 125lbs for the first time to challenge for Cejudo’s title, only for Triple C to knock him out in just 32 seconds.
In the aftermath of the fight, Dillashaw claimed that referee Kevin MacDonald stopped the fight too early, something that several fight fans agreed with.
However, Dillashaw was then suspended for using the banned substance EPO, and hasn’t returned to the UFC since.
The former UFC Bantamweight champ is now ready to fight again, though – so why not book a rematch between him and Cejudo, but at 135lbs this time?
Dillashaw would clearly be more comfortable at the weight, while Cejudo has proven that he can succeed at 135lbs, too, thanks to his wins over Marlon Moraes and Dominick Cruz.
With UFC president Dana White suggesting that Dillashaw will be booked into a #1 contender’s fight upon his return, a rematch with Cejudo with the winner fighting for the title could definitely make a lot of sense.
#3 Cory Sandhagen
Putting T.J. Dillashaw aside for a moment, the clear #1 contender in the UFC’s Bantamweight division right now is Cory Sandhagen.
The Sandman is 7-1 in the UFC and has bounced back from his lone defeat to Aljamain Sterling in style. He’s taken out Marlon Moraes and Frankie Edgar in highlight-reel fashion in his two most recent fights.
Sandhagen was expected to face the winner of the Petr Yan vs. Sterling fight at UFC 259. But with that fight ending in controversial fashion, an immediate rematch is instead expected to happen.
That leaves Sandhagen without an opponent. And while it’d be logical for the UFC to match him with T.J. Dillashaw, would Henry Cejudo be a preferred opponent for The Sandman?
It’s definitely possible. After all, a win over Cejudo would give Sandhagen a genuine claim to the title, given Triple C never actually lost it.
And if Cejudo were to defeat Sandhagen, then it’d signify that he remains the UFC’s premier Bantamweight, even without his title.
Add in the fact that this could be a hugely exciting fight, and it would definitely make sense for the UFC to book it.
#4 Max Holloway
The latest fighter to be called out by Henry Cejudo is former UFC Featherweight champion, Max Holloway.
Holloway last fought in January, beating Calvin Kattar in the main event of the UFC’s first-ever show on the ABC network.
It was a fight that saw Blessed display a heavily improved boxing game, as he picked Kattar apart in brutal fashion across five rounds. The fight suggested that the Hawaiian is very much capable of regaining his UFC Featherweight title.
But could Holloway be tempted into a fight with Cejudo first? It’s definitely possible.
Any fight for the UFC Featherweight title would have to wait until later in 2021, while a clash with Cejudo would perhaps be able to happen sooner.
And a win for Blessed over a former UFC double champion would provide him with a massive name win for his ledger, clearly marking him out as a true pound-for-pound great.
So could Cejudo really deal with the slick striking of Holloway? And in turn, could the Hawaiian prevent such a great wrestler from dominating him on the ground?
There’s only one way to find out – and that’s for the UFC to book the fight.
#5 The winner of Alexander Volkanovski vs. Brian Ortega at UFC 260
Henry Cejudo has never been quiet about his goal of becoming the first fighter in UFC history to hold titles in three different weight classes.
In fact, Triple C stated last year that he’d be more than willing to come out of his self-imposed retirement to take on current UFC Featherweight kingpin Alexander Volkanovski.
Volkanovski defends his title at next weekend’s UFC 260 against top contender Brian Ortega. So once that fight’s said and done, could Cejudo really jump the queue to face off with the winner?
It’s definitely possible.
Max Holloway is positioned as the division’s top contender right now and already has a win over Ortega. And so if T-City were to win the title, then the UFC would probably have to book a fight between him and Blessed with the gold on the line.
But Volkanovski has beaten Holloway on two occasions already. And so if he were to win, it’d be hard for the UFC to justify a third fight between the two.
And that would leave a path wide open for Cejudo to return and attempt to achieve something that no other UFC fighter has ever done in the near-three decade history of the promotion.
That alone should make the UFC tempted to offer Cejudo this fight.
