Getty Image
Henry Cejudo has a point to prove of Saturday night at UFC 288.
The self-proclaimed “King of Cringe” returns to the octagon almost three years to the day he announced his surprise retire at UFC 249 in May of 2020.
At the time, Cejudo has just defended his UFC bantamweight title via TKO against Dominick Cruz. He was on a six-fight win streak that saw him conquer first the flyweight division then bantamweight.
Cejudo was, at the time, perhaps most dominant fighter in the sport.
But at 33 years old, he decided to step away on top.
Now the former champ is back and he’s going after the bantamweight title yet again. This time he’ll have to go through reigning champ Aljamain Sterling, who did what many thought was unthinkable when he dethroned Petr Yan.
Sterling then defended his belt in dominant fashion against T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 280 in October. But now he faces a new test, and it’s perhaps his biggest one yet.
Cejudo, a former Olympic gold medalist in wrestling, is back, and with his return comes the uber-confident star who believes he’s the greatest combat sports athlete of all-time.
“I asked you a question and you haven’t given me an answer,” Cejudo asked Yahoo Sports. “Who deserves that title? Who has done more than me. Jones is the greatest in MMA. I get that and I agree with that. But across all of combat sports, who would you say has done more than I have? Remember, Olympic gold medal, two weight class championships in the UFC, on my way to a third. Who has done that?”
Had he not retired, Cejudo says he’d be the biggest star in UFC history.
“Right now, no doubt, I’d be bigger than Conor McGregor,” he claimed.
It’s hard to argue with Cejudo’s accolades. And if he beats Sterling, then goes up again and wins the featherweight belt, there’ll be no argument left at all.