Henry Cejudo ponders retirement if he loses to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 298: 'It's all or nothing'

A lot is at stake for Henry Cejudo at UFC 298.

Cejudo (16-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) meets the streaking Merab Dvalishvili (16-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) Feb. 17 at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., with a main card that airs on pay-per-view following prelims expected on ESPN and ESPN+.

Cejudo, who fell short to Aljamain Sterling in their title fight at UFC 288, is contemplating hanging up his gloves again if he loses to Dvalishvili.

“This is for the No. 1 contender spot,” Cejudo said on “The HJR Experiment.” “I think to have to lose it to Aljamain, I think if I was going to go maybe down the ladder, I would probably be done with fighting again because it’s just like the sport is hard, man. Training camps, having two kids, and things like that. … It’s all or nothing, man.”

Cejudo retired in May 2020 after retaining his bantamweight title against Dominick Cruz. The former UFC dual-champion got the itch to return three years later where he lost a competitive fight to then champion Sterling this past May.

Cejudo, 36, admits money was also a big factor in his decision to return.

“It’s more of a motivation of vengeance,” Cejudo said. “It’s not always the love. Even coming back to the sport, I was like, ‘I want to test myself.’ I like the matchup (vs. Sterling). It has been three years, but it was also the financial compensation. I mean, there’s nothing easier to make money than the fight game.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 298.