Though he failed to wrest the bantamweight title from Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288 and contemplated retirement, Henry Cejudo has turned his attention to Merab Dvlishvili.
Following his split-decision loss to Sterling, Dvalishvili was involved in the post-fight scrum between Sterling and #1 contender Sean O’Malley. Dvalishvili, Sterling’s chief sparring partner and friend, commanded a surge of attention when he stole O’Malley’s jacket and wore it inside the octagon.
Dvalishvili would call out Cejudo on Twitter, asking for an opportunity to beat another of Sterling’s “leftovers.” In his last fight, Dvalishvili effortlessly defeated Petr Yan, who Sterling defeated twice over. Cejudo immediately stopped the retirement talk and called for Dvalishvili at UFC 292.
The returning Cejudo isn’t likely to get another crack at Sterling for some time, and time isn’t on the 36-year-old’s side. A win over Dvalishvili, who will not face his friend for the title, might be the best chance he gets at comeuppance after narrowly losing to the champ.
Brandon Moreno willing to face Henry Cejudo at a catchweight
UFC flyweight champion Brandon Moreno has his own business he’d like to settle with Cejudo. Both Moreno and Cejudo trained with each other at one point, but Moreno never lived down being snubbed by Cejudo when he was a coach on The Ultimate Fighter.
Moreno is trying to line up a Cejudo fight should he beat Alexandre Pentoja at UFC 290. Their bout is a rematch of their 2018 clash where Pantoja won a comfortable decision.
The flyweight champion took to social media to issue his challenge, saying, “I’m going to win my fight in July and then we can finish business. Main event in Mexico City. I go to 135 lbs, f*ck belts, just you and me in the octagon!!”
“I guess now everybody wants a piece of me, huh?”
Henry Cejudo on his callouts following his loss to Aljamain Sterling
So despite flirting with retiring for good, Cejudo now has a pair of viable fights that have presented themselves.
