Cejudo needs win at UFC Seattle to keep career alive

It's easy to forget that Henry Cejudo is one of the greatest fighters in MMA history - particularly in the lighter weight classes - when you see he's more than a 2-1 betting underdog for the UFC Seattle main event against Song Yadong.

Gone are the days of "Triple C" doing the unthinkable by dethroning Demetrious Johnson, knocking out TJ Dillashaw in under a minute to save the flyweight division, and finishing another all-time great in Dominick Cruz. Cejudo, 38, has lost two in a row since coming out of retirement in 2023, and at this point in time, he's far removed from the bantamweight title conversation.

Granted, Cejudo shouldn't feel too bad about his recent losses. He had two close fights against current bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili and former champ Aljamain Sterling, the latter of whom is now a top-10 contender at featherweight. No shame in that.

Based on what we've seen from Cejudo in his last two fights (keeping in mind that one judge did score the Sterling fight in his favor), there's still a chance he could turn things around and perhaps even contend for a title again. Time isn't on his side, but we've seen some pretty unreal career turnarounds in this sport.

This is why Saturday's fight against Song is so important for Cejudo.

When Cejudo was in his prime five or six years ago - when he was a simultaneous two-division champion - he wouldn't have had much issue beating Song. The 27-year-old Chinese fighter is very good, but he has a clear ceiling in the bantamweight division, at least in his current form. (A unanimous decision loss to former champ Petr Yan last March was pretty evident of that.)

So, if Cejudo is even remotely the same fighter he was back in 2019 or 2020, he'll come out on top at UFC Seattle. But if the oddsmakers are right and Cejudo does suffer his third straight loss - something that has never happened before - he'll need to ask himself if there's any point in continuing.

Sure, Cejudo could theoretically fight until an athletic commission deems him unfit to do so, but it'd just be for the paycheck at that point. Right now, the Olympic gold medalist can hang on to the fact he was competitive against the current bantamweight champion just one year ago. But any glimmer of hope - in terms of being a contender or getting the belt back - all but disappears with a loss to Song.

And given that Cejudo has already retired from the sport once before, it wouldn't be surprising to see him walk away - for good this time - if the fight goes the wrong way.