NEWARK, N.J. – Henry Cejudo thought he could take three years off, walk into the octagon, and reclaim the UFC bantamweight title in his first fight back from retirement, but he was wrong.
And now he’s left pondering his future once again.
To his credit, Cejudo (16-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) came close but ultimately fell short as champion Aljamain Sterling (23-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) won a split decision to retain the 135-pound title in the UFC 288 main event Saturday. The scores were 48-47 across the board, with two judges for Sterling and one for Cejudo.
Afterward, Cejudo, who retired in 2020 while he was UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion, took off his gloves and appeared as though he would announce another retirement when he spoke to Joe Rogan inside the cage, but he didn’t go quite that far.
“It was close, but Aljamain did his job. He got the victory,” Cejudo told Rogan and the crowd at Prudential Center. “It sucks. I hate losing, but it’s also been three years. I just don’t know where to take it from here. I’m a little confused right now. … If I’m not first, I’m last. If I can’t beat Aljo, my biggest goal was to go up to 145 pounds. If I didn’t get the victory over (Aljo), I just don’t know where that puts me.”
The reality check continued when Cejudo, 36, arrived backstage for the UFC 288 post-fight news conference.
“It’s just hard, man,” Cejudo said. “I’m such a f*cking competitor. I don’t think people realize that. To me, it’s all or nothing. If I’m not first, I’m f*cking last.”
He continued, “I don’t know. I’ve got to lay back. My wife’s pregnant. We’re getting ready to have another kid. Even these last two to three months, not being able to give my kid that attention – I’m a good father, man. I love spending time with my kid. I love playing with her. And just cutting weight, not holding her, kind of neglecting her, having my training partners play with her, that’s the stuff that means a lot to me. A lot of you guys don’t give a f*ck, but the time with my kid means the world to me, especially the fact that I have another one on the way.”
Cejudo wasn’t particularly trying to make excuses, but he did acknowledge that his time away from competition hurt his performance.
“Sometimes you make your own bed, and that’s what happens,” Cejudo said. “I’ve got to go back and think about what it is that I want to do. I’m out to chase greatness, man. I’m just not out here to fight just to fight, to hear the crowd roar. My dream is just to reach mountains that nobody’s ever climbed. That’s partially why I take my resume that seriously, and that’s probably why I even started the (“Triple C”) schtick. Because I am proud of it.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 288.
