Henry Cejudo Says Title Bout vs. Alexander Volkanovski Could Lure Him out of Retirement

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There’s only one fight that could really tempt Henry Cejudo to end his retirement from mixed martial arts.

While Cejudo has shown interest in a boxing match with undefeated star Ryan Garcia, he says it would take a title bout in a third weight class to get him to return to the Octagon.

“Like I said, I’ve done everything in MMA. I think I’m satisfied with my career,” Cejudo recently told TMZ Sports. “There would only be one fight that would really bring me back, that would really wake me up in the morning. Other than Ryan Garcia, it would be Alexander Volkanovski, that overgrown midget. I would love to make him bend the knee because he’s already half way there.”

Volkanovski, the UFC’s reigning featherweight champion, claimed 145-pound gold with a decision win over Max Holloway at UFC 245 this past December. The City Kickboxing representative is expected to rematch Holloway at some point this year.

“I want a third title because I want to be different,” Cejudo said. “There’s a lot of champ-champs — obviously there’s only one ‘Triple C.’ There’s only one Olympic champ, flyweight champ and bantamweight champion of the world, but it’s just to cement it, go in the history books as the greatest mixed martial artist of all time.”

Cejudo retired following a second-round stoppage of Dominick Cruz at UFC 249 on May 9. The Olympic gold medalist is one of only three UFC fighters, along with Daniel Cormier and Amanda Nunes, to successfully defend championships in two different weight classes. Cejudo cited his desire to start a family as the reason behind his decision. The UFC vacated his bantamweight title and removed him from the 135-pound rankings shortly thereafter.