Henry Cejudo seems to be wasting no time getting back to the Octagon. The former two-division champion looks to clash with Marlon ‘Chito‘ Vera at the upcoming UFC 292 card in Boston.
It is worth mentioning that contracts for the said bout haven’t been signed yet, but both sides have verbally agreed to the fight. It is scheduled for August 19 in Boston’s TD Garden. Bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling will take on rising star Sean O’Malley in the headlining event of the night.
Henry Cejudo and Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera have verbally agreed to a bout at UFC 292 on August 19 in Boston, Dana White told @bokamotoESPN. pic.twitter.com/sZvTzgIlfq
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) June 20, 2023
UFC president Dana White announced the pairing through ESPN on Monday. Following a three-year-long hiatus, ‘Triple C‘ returned to grace the Octagon in May of this year. However, he came up short in a bid to reclaim the bantamweight gold with a split-decision loss to ‘Funk Master.’
Following the controversial loss, Henry made it clear he wanted to return to action sooner than later. His first choice, Merab Dvalishvili, has a hand surgery scheduled, and wouldn’t be available until the fall. Thus, Cejudo jumped at the August 19th opportunity, which would also mark the 15-year anniversary of his Olympic gold medal run in 2008.
Big close to the first round for @FunkMasterMMA 👊 #UFC288 pic.twitter.com/1TxHvVgLKm
— UFC (@ufc) May 7, 2023
Vera has accepted the challenge after losing to Cory Sandhagen in a bout that happened in March of this year. The said fight brought an end to his 4-fight win streak. Prior to that, ‘Chito’ took out names such as Dominick Cruz, Frankie Edgar, and Rob Font, making a remarkable climb up the bantamweight ranks.
Unfortunately, as Vera prepares to add Cejudo to his resume, recent reports suggest he might have to wait a little bit in order to manifest his plans.
Henry Cejudo reportedly has a compromised right shoulder
When he’s not fighting. Henry Cejudo is often seen adding content to his official YouTube channel. And if reports are to be believed, Henry has shared concerning news about a possibly compromised right shoulder.
An Instagram account that goes by the handle of ‘parrypunch’ recently reported that the former Olympic gold medalist has since taken down the alleged video. As per their post, Cejudo stated that his fight with Vera won’t become official until he gets his right shoulder checked by a doctor.
“I like that fight [against Marlon Vera],” Cejudo said, according to the post. “But, obviously I do have an injury and I don’t even know where my injuries are coming from honestly. Maybe it’s a little bit of that old age. But I do gotta get my right shoulder checked up. In other words, there is a slight tear in my right shoulder.”
View this post on Instagram
“Will Chito put me back in the title picture? Those are the questions I have. I know that the [UFC wanted to book] me and Merab [Dvalishvili],” he continued.
Cejudo seemed to question the state of his bout against Vera, owing to the said injury. He elaborated, “But other than that, the biggest thing is just my shoulder. If I’m able to get that healthy, I’m able to think a little more clear, and be able to game plan for somebody like Chito Vera. But as of right now, that’s kind of where the question mark is.”
Henry Cejudo is undergoing left shoulder surgery in Arizona right now. He’ll be out 4-5 months before he can fully train again. More: (pic attached is one he sent moments before he went under. Poor Triple C.) https://t.co/BBXKIUn6CT pic.twitter.com/Mrjf4re8rN
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) June 19, 2019
If the news is true, this won’t be the first time ‘Triple C’ would be suffering from a shoulder injury. Cejudo famously tore his subscapularis muscle in his left shoulder in the first round of his fight against Marlon Moraes. However, Henry put tremendous fortitude on display that night and claimed a third-round stoppage over Moraes to win the vacant bantamweight gold in 2019.
The 36-year-old subsequently went under the knife and sat out for almost a whole year. He then returned to UFC 249 and finished the former bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz in May 2020.