"You gotta operate around his practice schedule" โ Chael Sonnen reveals "serious" Henry Cejudo is "starting to look the part" as he prepares for UFC comeback
Chael Sonnen claims that former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo is serious about his comeback. Cejudo's last fight was a second-round TKO win against Dominick Cruz in their UFC bantamweight title bout in May 2020. 'Triple C' retired from MMA after the UFC 249 matchup.
Nevertheless, earlier this year, Cejudo announced that he'd be returning to the octagon.
In an edition of Beyond the Fight, Chael Sonnen noted that Henry Cejudo has lately been pursuing a fight against the No. 1-ranked UFC bantamweight 'Sugar' Sean O'Malley. On that note, Sonnen stated:
"Is Henry Cejudo coming back or not? We have every reason to believe he's coming back. We have Henry saying he's coming back. We have Henry re-entering the USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) pool."
Sonnen continued:
"If you've seen Henry Cejudo lately, he's down a good 15 pounds. I mean, he is starting to look the part. Anytime you need an interview with Henry, you gotta find the son of a b**ch and you gotta operate around his practice schedule. He's getting serious."
Watch Mike Tyson train Henry Cejudo below:
Chael Sonnen highlighted that 'Triple C' is coaching several fighters at the Fight Ready gym in Arizona, besides also upping the ante on his own training for his comeback. Sonnen indicated that Cejudo previously hinted at competing at featherweight. In fact, Cejudo did call out Alexander Volkanovski months ago, but the featherweight champ wasn't interested.
He added that Cejudo appears to have decided to return to bantamweight, reiterating Cejudo's recent string of callouts of No.1-ranked bantamweight contender Sean O'Malley.
Sonnen also opined that the two could meet for a possible interim UFC bantamweight title bout. UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling is seemingly out of action for now.
Watch Sonnen discuss the topic at 5:17 in the video below:
Henry Cejudo jibes at Sean O'Malley after 'Sugar' calls for an interim title fight with Marlon Vera
After UFC 280, bantamweight kingpin Aljamain Sterling claimed that he'd ideally return no sooner than June. In light of the champion's extended hiatus, Sean O'Malley stated he'd like to face Marlon 'Chito' Vera next for an interim title.
Cejudo, looking to make his comeback against 'Sugar' himself, jibed at him over the same.
Henry Cejudo opined that Sean O'Malley didn't deserve the split-decision victory in his recent fight against Petr Yan at UFC 280. Furthermore, 'Triple C' insinuated that he'd easily defeat both O'Malley and Vera. Continuing to lobby for a fight against O'Malley, Cejudo tweeted out:
"Sean [O'Malley] nobody thinks you beat Yawn [Petr Yan]. Iโve seen better decisions on โMarried at First Sight.โ The only title you should get is โMost likely to be the 3rd Island Boy.โ I would beat you and Cheeto [Marlon 'Chito' Vera] with TJโs [Dillashaw] Shoulder, [Calvin] Kattarโs leg and 'Aljoโs vagina."