- Henry Cejudo postponed his retirement and explained why he wants to fight again
- “Triple C” also revealed some of the possible reasons why he lost to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 298
Henry Cejudo suddenly took a u-turn and confirmed that he is not retiring yet following his humiliating decision loss to Meran Dvalishvili at UFC 98.
Henry doesn’t like to leave that way
Speaking on his YouTube channel, “Triple C” came clean about not being at his best form against Dvalishvili. With that said, Cejudo confided that he had a realization about postponing his retirement as he is not supposed to leave that way.
“As I think about it, thinking about getting taken down five times you know with Merab, somebody who’s on paper is not at the wrestling credentials as me, I could also look back and say, ‘Hey, you know sh*t happens.’ It wasn’t my night. Was I 100% going into that fight? I was 100% going into that fight where I wasn’t 100% in on was in the middle of my fight camp where I wasn’t able to use a wrestling stuff,” Cejudo revealed.
“That’s not an excuse. He won,” he added. “I’ve always said it before if you sign on the dotted line, that means you fight whether you’re healthy or you’re not healthy. Was my growing back by the time fight time did? Yeah. Did not sparring half the camp really kind of take a toll on the fatigue which allowed my opponent to pretty much take the win out of me? Yeah 100%. But one thing I will say, I just cannot let it roll like this. I just cannot.”
Many thought Henry lost to the best in the world
Cejudo further revealed that a host of UFC legends told him that he shouldn’t go yet as he did not lose because he wasn’t good anymore. In fact, he lost to the best bantamweight fighter in the world.
According to “Triple C,” this made him even more decided that it’s not time to retire yet. Instead, he should be righting the wrongs and going out there once again.
“As much as it hurts. Again, guys, I take the L. But I cannot take the L knowing the way that I pretty much went out. I don’t mind the losing aspect of it. Maybe just the way that I did go, the being winded side, the not trying to knock this dude out because I was tired. I think that’s the stuff that really bothers me. So as of today, guys… a couple of days ago, I literally did a whole video on my retirement, thanking my family, thanking my friends, thanking everybody who has been there,” Cejudo explained.
“But as time sets in and gives me a chance to talk to a lot of the legends, I called Daniel Cormier, I talked to Quinton ‘Rampage,’ I talked to a lot of guys who I respect who have been there before. And you know what, Henry? Look at your situation. You went out and you fought the No. 1 guy in the world [Aljamain Sterling], you lost a split decision. You went out and you pretty much fought the best guy in the world [Dvalishvili], because when this guy gets an opportunity to fight Sean O’Malley or ‘Chito’ Vera, it’s going to be easy work for him. Because I thought the same thing as Sean. I was like Sean, ‘This dude is f**king sloppy, this dude is X,Y, and Z,'” he continued.
“But it’s different when you actually get in there. It’s different when you have a pace, and a guy that doesn’t necessarily have that knockout power or that accuracy, but just has that go in him, and that’s what makes him dangerous. It’s not necessarily his wrestling. It’s his threshold, it’s the ability of him continuing to keep picking up the pace, and keeping it at that pace where he doesn’t drain his own wad. He got me. I take the L. But I cannot let it sit like this. I just cannot,” he added.
Cejudo had been generating quite some buzz prior to UFC 298. He suddenly decided to publicly fire his longtime coach heading into the fight. The former champ-champ also revealed his plan to move up to featherweight but retire if he loses to Dvalishvili.
However, it appears that “Triple C” has made up his mind and would be giving himself another chance. The lost to Dvalishvili was Cejudo’s second in a row, having lost to Aljamain Sterling in his comeback fight at UFC 288.
Watch Cejudo’s full video below:
