Henry Cejudo is scheduled to fight a top bantamweight competitor, Merab Dvalishvili on February 17 as a part of UFC 298 main card. It will be “Triple C’s” second bout since his return to MMA competition back in 2023. After an unsuccessful try to regain a UFC bantamweight title by defeating Aljamain Sterling, Cejudo may consider making some hard decisions if he falls short in his bout against Dvalishvili.
In his recent interview with the HJR Experiment YouTube channel, a former Olympic champion and UFC two-division champion said:
“This is for the No. 1 contender spot. “I think after losing to Aljamain, I think if I was going to go maybe down the ladder, I would probably be done with fighting again. Yeah, man. Because it’s just like, this sport is hard, man. Training camps, having two kids, and things like that…It’s all or nothing, man.”
Henry Cejudo captured the UFC Flyweight title back in August 2018 by defeating then-champion, Demetrious Johnson on UFC 227. It was an upset win by a split decision, that also scored him a Fight of the Night honors. After that, a decisive, 32-second knockout win over T.J. Dillashaw on UFC Fight Night 143 followed. Cejudo continued his winning ways by knocking out Marlon Moraes at UFC 238, grabbing the vacant UFC Bantamweight title in the process. Cejudo retired from MMA competition one year after winning the belt. After his successful bantamweight title defense over Dominick Cruz at UFC 249 he announced his retirement during a post-fight interview.
However, Henry Cejudo didn’t allow MMA fans to forget about him. He remained very active on his social media, commenting on fights and actual events that were happening in the world of mixed martial arts. He also teased his return to MMA competition on various occasions. Finally, he made his comeback at UFC 288 but didn’t manage to stop Sterling’s momentum. Now he will face Sterling’s teammate in Dvalishvili. The Georgian fighter currently enjoys a nine-fight winning streak. It’s expected that the winner of this bout will take on whoever wins UFC 299’s bantamweight title rematch between Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera.
“It’s more of a motivation of vengeance. You know what I’m saying? It’s not always the love. Like no, not really, man… Even coming back to the sport, I was like, ‘Alright man, I want to test myself. I like the matchup against Sterling. It has been three years.’ But it was also the financial compensation. There’s nothing easier to make money than the fight game.”
Merab Dvalishvili holds a professional record of 16 wins and 4 losses. He holds wins over former title challengers and champions such as Marlon Moraes, Jose Aldo, and Petr Yan.
UFC 298 is scheduled for February 18. The Event takes place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The reigning UFC featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski defends his title for a sixth time against undefeated Ilia Topuria in the main event. In the co-main, Robert Whittaker will square off against Paulo Costa. Henry Cejudo vs. Merab Dvalishvili is scheduled as a second bout of the main card.
