After successfully defending the UFC bantamweight title last May, Henry Cejudo decided to call it quits. Yet, over the last year, “Triple C” has been putting himself out there, calling out former champions and current titleholders at a higher weight class.
At 34 years of age, there still a lot of time for Cejudo to return if he chooses to. But for his most recent challenger Dominick Cruz, a comeback is highly unlikely.
“I don’t think so,” Cruz told Ariel Helwani when asked about Cejudo’s return. “He has this thing where he believes he’s worth millions and millions of dollars.
“And I think that Dana (White) doesn’t care, so probably not. Because he wants a certain amount of money before he’ll come back and fight. And I don’t know if he’ll ever get that.”
Cejudo built himself up as the “King of Cringe,” which does draw attention for him. But for Cruz, that isn’t enough to move the needle.
“You look at the rest of the division, Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling, two top contenders that are fighting for the belt coming up. Those guys aren’t asking for that kind of money. They’re gonna bring a crazy fight to the table,” Cruz explained.
“So why would you bring back a Cejudo who’s playing it safe on the sidelines? For what? He doesn’t bring any extra views. If you’re a Conor McGregor or if you’re a Ronda Rousey, yes, you figure it out.
“But if you’re Henry Cejudo… He doesn’t bring some sort of awe factor to these fights to where everybody can’t wait to tune in to watch him. They’re just laughing at him.
“He’s cringy. He’s ‘Cringe Cejudo.’”
“The Dominator” may have a point here. Because unlike the retired Khabib Nurmagomedov who remains to be the undisputed lightweight champion, the bantamweight title was up for grabs two weeks after Cejudo’s retirement announcement.
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