Henry Cejudo makes ambitious prediction about Merab Dvalishvili fight 

Henry Cejudo and Merab Dvalishvili have been circling each other for months and have finally seemed to sign the contract for an official fight.

Shortly after the announcement, 'Tripple C' posted the UFC graphic on X along with a bold claim. He vowed to not only beat 'The Machine' but claimed that he was just 'one fight away from holding 12 pounds of gold again.'

The bantamweight clash is set to take place on the UFC 298 main card on February 17th, 2024.

Henry Cejudo also claimed the fight would be a chance at 'redemption' for him after losing to the Georgian's close friend and teammate Aljamain Sterling in his comeback fight. He retired back at UFC 249 after a second-round knockout of Dominick Cruz to earn himself a bantamweight title defense.

Dvalishvili also tweeted about the fight but in a much more light-hearted manner. The 32-year-old claimed he had not received the fight contract yet but was more than happy to fight for 'the Undisputed Short King Championship.'

Both the fighters have spent the past couple of months pursuing a title fight with Sean O'Malley following the American's title win. However 'Suga' has a date inside the octagon with Marlon Vera for his first attempted title defense. Despite the uncertainty, the winner of the high-profile bantamweight fight would seemingly get the next championship opportunity.

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Is Henry Cejudo vs. Merab Dvalishvili official?

With Merab Dvalishvili claiming that he has yet to receive a contract from the UFC regarding a fight with Henry Cejudo, fans have become skeptical of the fight announcement.

However, the fight seems to be in the making. 'Tripple C' originally announced the fight on his YouTube channel and has since been confirmed by multiple sources including Marc Raimondi of ESPN. The ESPN MMA X account did note that nothing has been signed on either side. However, the UFC has received verbal confirmation from the two fighters.

Although the fight is currently the most notable matchup on the UFC 298 card outside of the main event, it has not been confirmed to be the co-main event yet.