Henry Cejudo is about to take on Merab Dvalishvilli at UFC 298 and a lot of fans have the same question on their minds. Didn’t this guy retire? And it’s a fair question too. And yes, ‘Triple C’ had retired from fighting for a while too but his retirement only lasted for so long.

After going to war with Dominick Cruz at UFC 249, Cejudo seemed convinced that his fighting days are behind him. he won the fight by knocking out Cruz in the second round and subsequently announced his retirement. However, three years later, it would all blow over and Cejudo would grace the cage once again. So why did he retire and let go of his belt in the first place?

In Henry Cejudo’s own words

For Henry Cejudo, it was all “plain and simple”. He was happy and satisfied with the way his career looked at the time and he was still champion when he retired. For him letting go of the bantamweight championship title only meant that he’s defended it well and it’s okay to let it rest now.

“When you’ve accomplished everything, you’ve reached everything there is to do in sports, you know what you want to do? You want to relax and enjoy it. You’re bored. You’re like, what’s next? Why do I have to deal with this pressure of fighting, or why do I have to take an elbow, knee, and all of that,” Cejudo explained in a video on his own YouTube channel.

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He also told the fans how he relates to one of the greatest combat athletes to ever grace the cage. “This is why I’m able to relate to a guy like Jon Jones quite a bit is because once you start winning it starts getting boring, or maybe that’s not the right word. It doesn’t get exciting anymore.”

However, he also noted that he was just trying to find some time to rekindle that little flame for fighting he had left in him. Which is why he ended up returning in 2023 against Bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling. Unfortunately, he lost that bout via a close split decision. Was he planning a second retirement then?

‘Triple C’ and double retirement?

After his loss against Sterling, Henry Cejudo looked pretty upset. While he hadn’t completely given up on his career, he was still rather pulled-down by the loss. He told Joe Rogan how he didn’t know where to go from there. Even though he hadn’t fought in three years and even though it was a close fight, a loss is a loss.

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Cejudo also had a baby on the way back then and his family life looked like it would require much more of his attention. But what about his dream? ‘Triple C’ wanted to do what no one has done in the history of the UFC yet and that was to become a triple divisional champion.

He wanted to go and dominate the division that is currently ruled by none other than Alexander Volkanovski. Henry Cejudo told Rogan how losing to ‘Aljo’ put him in a state where his dream looked bleak. It put him in a place where he had no clue where to go. However, that was a while ago and it looks like he’s found his footing again as he prepares to fight Dvalishvilli. Perhaps we’ll see ‘Triple C’ stay true to his name in the UFC after all.

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