Manager opens up on Henry Cejudo's future, says UFC return is '50-50 right now'

MIAMI – The UFC already shot down Henry Cejudo’s request to come back to a featherweight title fight, but that doesn’t necessarily mean a return to the octagon is out of the question for the former two-division champion.

Cejudo’s manager, Dominance MMA chief Ali Abdelaziz, told MMA Junkie this week that Cejudo’s UFC future remains in the air, despite the promotion rejecting his request to fight 145-pound champion Alexander Volkanovski in hopes of become the UFC’s first three-division champion.

“Henry needs a couple things in order for him to come back,” Abdelaziz said. “He’s the greatest combat athlete of all time. I don’t think anybody can accomplish what he does. If Kayla Harrison one day goes to the UFC and becomes a UFC champion, maybe, because she’s a two-time Olympic champion. But right now Henry’s the greatest combat athlete of all time. He knows what he’s worth. But at the end of the day, this is a business transaction.

“Sometimes you go to (the pawn shop), you say I’m gonna sell you all my stuff for this much money, and they say it’s not worth it, right? You move on, and you hold this stuff, or you go to somebody else, right? In this situation, UFC is the promoter, right? I received a message (Wednesday) from the UFC. Next week we should sit down and talk about it and see what exactly, how all of us make Henry happy. For Henry to come back, he has to be happy, and he deserves to be happy. If I can do my job and make him happy, I’m gonna do everything I can. If I can’t, Henry’s just not gonna come out of retirement. He’s gonna do what he’s been doing.”

Abdelaziz’s pawn shop analogy and suggestion of “you go to somebody else” doesn’t exactly hold up since Cejudo, 34, can’t shop his services elsewhere while being tied to an exclusive UFC contract despite retiring in May 2020 after a title win over Dominick Cruz. In that sense, it’s UFC or bust for Cejudo (16-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) if he’s to return to competition.

Cejudo and UFC president Dana White recently got into a public spat over the situation surrounding the featherweight title picture, with the UFC opting for Chan Sung Jung to face Volkanovski after Max Holloway was forced to withdraw from their trilogy. Cejudo has made it clear that one of his issues is the UFC “wants to pay (him) peanuts in comparison to what (he) deserves.”

Are things contentious between Cejudo and the UFC? Abdelaziz downplayed that notion.

“Henry gets respect. If anybody says Dana White or the UFC don’t respect Henry, they’re full of sh*t,” Abdelaziz said. “It’s just business. I don’t talk about money or business publicly; that’s just not the way I do business. But I think it has something to do with the way we’re gonna structure a deal for Henry to come back. Maybe they’re gonna tell me I’m over my head, I’m out of my mind, or they’re gonna tell me we’ll do something. Next week I’ll know.”

Bottom line: Does Cejudo return to the octagon this year?

“I don’t know. It’s 50-50 right now,” Abdelaziz said. “Because Henry is not gonna settle for less than what he thinks he’s worth. And the UFC, they have a business. They have to follow their guidelines. Our job is to … listen, let’s be real. If the UFC gave me a million, I say I want 2 million. If they give me 2 million, I want 4 million, right? Fighters always want more money, and some fighters deserve it a hundred percent. And some, I can’t speak for them. But Henry definitely deserves it.”