When Henry Cejudo left athletic competition almost exactly three years ago, he left it as the UFC bantamweight champion.
He also appeared to leave it without regret.
“I was at peace with it because I’ve done everything that I’ve set out to do,” Cejudo, speaking recently with The Post via Zoom, said in the leadup to his return Saturday (10 p.m. ET, pay-per-view) against current champ Aljamain Sterling. “Literally, this is just icing on the cake. You can still have the cake. And actually, it’s icing on top of the icing on top of the icing on top of the cherry.
“Now, it’s a challenge within me. Three-year layoff. ‘How good is he really?’ I love that. I love that obstacle and that challenge that’s in front of me. … Those are the challenges that I like, so it’s not even Aljamain; truly, [it’s] against me.”
Cejudo (16-2, eight finishes), whose championship challenge headlines UFC 288 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., surprised fans and observers with his sudden, in-cage retirement just moments after securing a TKO of 135-pound great Dominick Cruz on May 9, 2020.
That Cejudo, 36, is back for more is far less surprising, and this fight in particular against Sterling — whose two-year reign and pair of title defenses surpassed Cejudo’s own time ruling the roost at 135 — has been building up steam for a year.
For a while, it didn’t appear Cejudo would settle for a return to bantamweight or even flyweight — the first division he conquered with a narrow split decision victory over GOAT-level Demetrious Johnson in 2018.
His eyes looked locked onto a third UFC championship belt, the featherweight variety that’s been held by Alexander Volkanovski since the end of 2019.
But Cejudo’s public angling for the opportunity to become MMA’s first to win major promotion titles in three weight classes couldn’t get off the ground, and Cejudo conceded waiting on the sidelines for such a fight “doesn’t always work like that.”
The cocksure Cejudo, an Olympic wrestling champion before transitioning to MMA a decade ago, isn’t forgoing the dream.
Rather, he’s comparing his return at 135 pounds as preparation for the greater goal.
“It’s probably not a bad idea, either … going for a couple of tune-ups and then going after [Volkanovski]. I don’t mind that either,” Cejudo said. “But that was my original goal.”
“It’s the UFC and if you want to do this, you gotta abide. And that’s what I’m doing.”
Confirming his return is “more than a one-off” and this his endgame is to be the champion of both 135 and 145, Cejudo noted that, first thing’s first, he must regain his former title from the 33-year-old Sterling, a Long Island native who could have the metropolitan area crowd on his side in North Jersey.
Sterling (22-3, 11 finishes), a former two-time NCAA Division III All-American wrestler at SUNY Cortland, attained and kept his championship status thanks in large part to his smothering grappling and an unorthodox, kick-heavy striking arsenal.
Cejudo, the 2008 Summer Olympics 55 kg freestyle wrestling champion whose heavy hands have secured three consecutive wins via TKO — all in championship fights — scoffs at what the current champion brings to the octagon.
“His wrestling doesn’t intimidate me, nor does his striking intimidate me. None of it really intimidates me,” says Cejudo matter-of-factly. “And he’s been able to do that with everybody else. I mean, I have 100 percent [takedown] defense. I will welcome him into my legs. I’ll welcome him to my body lock. Whatever it is that he wants to do, of course, I’m going to defend. If he cannot get there, even better, but if he does, I’m OK with it.”