Henry Cejudo talks about his negotiations with the UFC regarding his comeback fight
Henry Cejudo is eager to return to the UFC, but the ongoing negotiations regarding his comeback fight have not gone as smoothly as he had hoped.
Cejudo uploaded a video to his YouTube channel where he provided an update on his negotiations with the UFC as well as his return date. He mentioned that although he wants to fight again, the negotiations are out of his control at the moment, saying:
"The ball is not in my court now. There's two things that you guys need to understand with the UFC in the negotiation. There's three people that play parts; the contender, the champion, and the UFC." {1:54 - 2:07}
'Triple C' then added that the challenger is the last one to be brought into the negotiations because the promotion needs to come to terms with the champion first. He mentioned that the only circumstances that would see the challenger be the first to come to terms on a fight would be if Conor McGregor was involved, saying:
"When it comes to the only person that could really play the role as a contender and happens to just be a Conor McGregor. The only one in UFC history but that being said, it's the UFC and the champion. When they're able to come to terms, they bring in the third party, which is the contender, and now the fight has to happen." {2:21 - 2:39}
It seemed like the UFC was targeting March for a potential Cejudo vs. Aljamain Sterling fight. This would be logical as there are two pay-per-view events scheduled for March that are two weeks apart. They could thus benefit from a bantamweight title fight in a co-main event for the rumored Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman trilogy or the long-awaited heavyweight debut of Jon Jones.
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Henry Cejudo believes he is the healthiest he's ever been
Watch the intense highlights of Demetrious Johnson and Henry Cejudo training. Powered by @jimmybars get your fuel on! #jimmybars 🏆🏆🏆 https://t.co/sgj1P1WQ1H
Henry Cejudo believes that he is the healthiest he's ever been in his life as he prepares for his UFC return in 2023.
The former two-division UFC champion uploaded a video to his YouTube channel where he talked about the negotiations for his return to the octagon. During the video, he mentioned that he is in the best shape of his life and is confident that he will regain the UFC bantamweight championship with ease:
"I've been having the right engineers to create this perfect storm...I've never been lighter. I've never been more confident or have I felt healthier in my life." {3:01 - 3:19}
It will be interesting to see whether ring rust will be a factor as 'Triple C' looks to regain the UFC bantamweight championship three years after retiring.