Ali Abdelaziz ‘100%’ Believes Henry Cejudo Returns To The UFC In 2022
Dominance MMA leader and prominent mixed martial arts manager, Ali Abdelaziz has claimed that he wholeheartedly believes his client, former two-weight undisputed bantamweight and flyweight champion, Henry Cejudo will snap a retirement from the sport next year in an Octagon return.
Cejudo, a former undisputed bantamweight, and flyweight gold holder, and an Olympic gold medalist — in quite surprising fashion, called time on his professional mixed martial arts career back in May of last year following his co-headlining title defense win against Dominick Cruz at UFC 249.
However, despite failing to feature in active competition since hanging up his gloves more than a year ago, Cejudo has been continually linked with an Octagon return — including against the likes of former flyweight best, Deiveson Figueiredo, bantamweight champions, Aljamain Sterling, and Petr Yan — as well as featherweight kingpin, Alexander Volkanovski — in an attempt to become the first three-weight champion in the history of the UFC.
Despite this constant speculation linking him to the move back to the promotion — which Cejudo fuels himself to boot, a return has yet to hit the cards. However, according to the Los Angeles-born former champion’s manager, Abdelaziz, he believes “100%” that Cejudo makes his retirement snapping return next year.
Ali Abdelaziz floats a fight between Henry Cejudo and featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski
“Yes I do,” Abdelaziz replied when asked by MMA Fighting if he believes Henry Cejudo returns next year. “100 percent I do. I think he (Henry Cejudo) does.“
“If he lost, he (Henry Cejudo) can go down to 135(lbs),” Abdelaziz said. “He’s not coming in for one fight. He’s coming in for a legacy fight to get three belts but at the end of the day, too, there’s a lot of fights at 135 and 145, too, it’s no problem. He’s a competitor. As long as he’s breathing, this guy’s going to be a champion.“
An immediate featherweight title fight for Cejudo on his return is sure to upset the applecart, however, Abdelaziz has hypothesized that former champion, #1 contender Max Holloway, as well as Giga Chikadze — could just fight either Cejudo or current champion, Volkanovski in the future, regardless of his client’s potential return.
“Of course, Max [Holloway] deserves [the title shot], too but I think timing will be great because Henry can fight in February and Max can fight the winner,” Abdelaziz said. “But also it’s a huge gap in the division. You have Alexander (Volkanovski), you have Max and it’s a huge gap and you have someone like Giga (Chikadze), who has a seven-fight winning streak. Giga has a fight (against Calvin Kattar). I think it’s the perfect time for Herny to come in and see what he can do in the division. If he wins, he can fight Max and after that, he can fight Giga. In reality, it’s a really great fight. It’s a really big fight.“
“Henry did a great job keeping himself relevant in the sport,” Abdelaziz said. “He hasn’t fought for a long time. I’m very sure Dana (White) will go for it if everyone is serious and everyone will honor what we can do. It’s a very intriguing fight and I respect the champ very much, especially after the last fight (against Brian Ortega). How can you not respect this guy? But stylistically, it’s a great matchup. I like to favor Henry for this fight but it’s not going to be an easy fight. It can be a reality if everyone buttons up and says, ‘Let’s do this’.“
