The former flyweight and bantamweight champion has been making noise about a return to MMA for months now. But according to the UFC boss, that’s all it is. Noise.
“No cringe. Just straight talk. I’ve entered the USADA pool.”
That’s the message Henry Cejudo spread across his social media accounts back on April 11th. His goal? A return to the Octagon and a potential title fight against Alexander Volkanovski.
For most fighters, that may seem like nothing more than a pipe dream. But, Cejudo was a concurrent two-division champion who retired on a six fight unbeaten streak having never lost either belt through the course of competition. That’s the kind of resume that seems as though it could give him just the leverage he needs, even after two years on the sidelines.
If that’s Cejudo’s hope, however, UFC president Dana White doesn’t sound sold at all. Even the news that the former Olympic gold medalist has re-entered drug testing, doesn’t appear to have White inspired.
“No,” White told TMZ in a recent interview, when asked if the current beef between Cejudo and Conor McGregor had him excited. “Cejudo’s retired. Cejudo’s retired, you know? Cejudo knows what he needs to do to get back in and get—whatever. I mean, just talking shit on Instagram does not get you fights.”
No data is available, as of yet, as to whether or not Cejudo has actually been visited by USADA again. Perhaps White will start to change his tune, once the drug testing agency starts showing up at ‘Triple C’’s door. Until then, however, it looks like Cejudo’s interest in another run in the Octagon is going to remain an afterthought to the world’s largest MMA promotion.
