The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s return show in
Boston has taken a big hit on the main card.

On Thursday, Henry
Cejudo announced
that a shoulder injury will be keeping him from competing at
UFC
292. The ex-two division champ stated that he will require
around six to eight weeks for recovery, and does not plan on
getting surgery if he can help it. The promotion has not currently
indicated if a replacement will be sought to face Marlon Vera
on that Aug. 19 show at the TD Garden in Boston.

“August 19th is the 15-year anniversary when ‘Triple C’ won his
Olympic gold medal,” Cejudo noted, “and August 19th was also
scheduled to fight ‘Chito’ Vera. Guys, but I am here to make an
announcement, that unfortunate, due to my right shoulder, I won’t
be able to fight.”

In his last time out, Cejudo suffered a close split decision loss
to Aljamain
Sterling for the bantamweight strap. That marked the first time
since 2016 that “The Messenger” had tasted defeat, although he did
take off nearly three years from active competition from 2020 to
2023. In 2018, Cejudo claimed the flyweight belt from Demetrious
Johnson, and he defended it once against T.J.
Dillashaw. Although he planned on chasing Dillashaw up to 135
pounds, Dillashaw vacated his belt after failing drug tests for
EPO. In June 2019, Cejudo became one of the only fighters in UFC
history to simultaneously hold two titles, as he beat Marlon
Moraes for the vacant bantamweight strap. After a single
defense of that new throne against Dominick
Cruz, he retired.

Cejudo continued, “Guys, I’ve already torn my left shoulder where I
was out for about a year, I don’t want it to tear further than what
it already is. That being said, there is a tear in there guys, the
cat is out the bag. It is actually a 50% tear, but the way it’s
torn, it’s like…a filet, so it’s not detached [completely], there
is like a tear in there. So, I got stem cells through Dr. Rey, he
is like ‘the quickest that you can do and if you do the therapy
correctly, you’re looking at anywhere between six to eight weeks.’
I stretched it out to as much as I possibly could because I love
that ‘Chito’ Vera matchup.”

The former two-division kingpin hinted that this scuttling of the
Vera fight could lead to other matches being put together by the
UFC. Cejudo had his eyes on another top bantamweight contender,
while also mentioning a flyweight he would not be opposed to
encountering.

“At the end of the day, the guy that I still want, no. 1 contender,
his name is Merab [Dvalishvili]. So that’s what I’m looking forward
to, and who knows, guys, there could be a special matchup between
me and Brandon
Moreno if you guys think about it…,” Cejudo concluded.

UFC 292 will take place at the TD Garden in Boston on Aug. 19, with
a pair of championships serving in the marquee. The main event
comes at bantamweight, as Sterling defends his crown against
Sean
O’Malley. The co-headliner will see Weili Zhang
attempt to make the first defense of her strawweight belt against
Amanda
Lemos. Other fights expected to receive main card status
included a 135-pound contest pitting Rob Font
against Yadong
Song, and a welterweight banger when Geoff Neal
faces Ian
Garry.





Source link

Former Champ Henry Cejudo Withdraws From UFC 292 Due to Shoulder Injury