"I'm not thinking about retired fighters" - Dana White uninterested in Henry Cejudo vs. Alexander Volkanovski matchup
Former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo has recently expressed the desire to step out of retirement to compete in a potentially history-making matchup against reigning UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovsk which could see the former become the first man in UFC history to hold three titles.
However, there's a small problem. UFC president Dana White isn't interested in booking the fight. Henry Cejudo decided to hang up his gloves last month after a TKO victory over Dominick Cruz in the co-headliner of UFC 249.
While Henry Cejudo sounds serious about staying retired, he admitted that he'd return for a one time only super fight against Volkanovski. He also mentioned considering a debut boxing match against Ryan Garcia. Speaking to TMZ, Cejudo revealed this plans for the future.
“I’ve done everything in MMA. I’m satisfied with my career. There would only be one fight that would really bring me back, that would really wake me up in the morning. That’s against other than Ryan Garcia, that would be Alexander Volkanovski, that overgrown midget… I would love to make him bend the knee. He’s already halfway there."
The reason why Cejudo wants to fight the featherweight champ so bad is the opportunity to become the first ever triple champ in UFC history.
“I want a third title because I want to be different. There’s a lot of champ-champs. Obviously, there’s only one ‘Triple C.’ There’s only one Olympic champ, flyweight champ, bantamweight champion of the world but it’s just to cement it and go in the history books as the greatest mixed martial artist of all-time.”
During last weekend’s UFC on ESPN 11 card, Henry Cejudo once again teased a move to the featherweight division. After the conclusion of the back and forth encounter between Josh Emmett vs. Shane Burgos fight, Cejudo referred to the featherweight division as his own.
“Fight of the year candidate. Beautiful to see these two artists go to work in MY weight class”
In a recent interview, Dana White said that he isn't buying into the idea of a clash between Cejudo and Volkanovski. White also stated that Henry Cejudo is retired and the former is not concerned about retired fighters at the moment (h/t MMA Fighting).
“He’s retired. I just did another interview where people are asking me about other retired guys. These guys are retired. I’m not even thinking about any of those guys. They’re retired. There are so many kids right now that are here, that want to fight. Those are the people that I’m focused on.”
Do you think we’ll ever see Henry Cejudo back inside the Octagon? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.