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After coming up short in his return fight against UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling last month, Henry Cejudo is set to return to the Octagon this summer.
UFC president Dana White told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that Cejudo and fellow bantamweight contender Marlon “Chito” Vera have verbally agreed to fight at UFC 292 in Boston on Aug. 19. That card is headlined by Sterling defending his title against Sean O’Malley in the main event.
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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
Cejudo lost to Sterling by split decision in the main event of UFC 288 on May 6. It was his first fight since his retirement in 2020 when he vacated the bantamweight title.
Following his loss, Cejudo was angling for a fight against Sterling’s teammate Merab Dvalishvili in hopes of quickly returning to title contention, but he’s sidelined while recovering from hand surgery. Cejudo told Okamoto last week that he’s still focused on his long-term plan of winning a third UFC title, but he knows he needs to build some momentum to do so.
“The reason I did come back to 135 was to go through, win a couple matches, move up and fight [featherweight champion] Alexander Volkanovski if he still had the belt,” Cejudo said. “… I need leverage. I know my potential, even though I’m coming off a split decision loss. Once I get this pop going, these dudes are still in trouble.”
A former two-division champion, Cejudo (16-3) is No. 3 in the UFC’s bantamweight rankings. Okamoto noted that Aug. 19 is the 15-year anniversary of his Olympic gold medal run in 2008, which likely influenced his desire to compete at UFC 292.
Vera (22-8-1) is ranked No. 6 in the bantamweight division. He’s coming off a split-decision loss to Cory Sandhagen in March. Prior to his defeat, the 30-year-old was on a four-fight win streak.
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