Cory Sandhagen doesn’t think it would be fair if Henry Cejudo gets a title shot upon his pending return to the UFC.
Following his first bantamweight title defense by TKO over Dominick Cruz at UFC 249, Cejudo announced his retirement from the sport. Many thought he would eventually return, however, and that has become true as he revealed he is back in the USADA testing pool and is getting close to returning. For Sandhagen, he thinks Cejudo should have to earn his way back into contention.
Cory Sandhagen Weighs In On Henry Cejudo’s Pending Return
“What is he doing? I don’t know what the hell the guy is doing,” Sandhagen said on The MMA Hour. “He’s going to be a curveball forever if it’s his decision.”
“He’s been off for so long. Why would the UFC do that? Why would they invest in someone who is just going to probably peace out after he maybe wins the title again? I don’t really see Henry as someone that can really build off of because I don’t think he’s going to stick around for long.
I think he’s going to try to cherry-pick some fights, make another title fight, whether to make money or legacy — whatever his motivator is, I can’t really say — but I don’t really think he’s going to do it because he wants to stick around. He’s going to do it because — I don’t know why the hell he’s going to do it. I just don’t get it. I just don’t see him sticking around.”
Currently, Aljamain Sterling is set to defend his title in the co-main event of UFC 280 against TJ Dillashaw. After that, the winner of Petr Yan vs Sean O’Malley could be next, or the likes of Marlon Vera or Merab Dvalishvili. The stacked field is why Sandhagen doesn’t think Cejudo should get the title shot.
With that said, Sandhagen wouldn’t be opposed to being the one to welcome back Cejudo to the Octagon in a title eliminator bout.
“That’s great too,” Sandhagen said. “I’m OK with that fight also. I haven’t thought about Henry too much, but fighting someone as good as Henry would be really awesome.”
