Former UFC champ-champ Henry Cejudo is back and set to face Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 298 on Feb 17 in Anaheim, CA.
Cejudo broke the news on his YouTube channel.
Cejudo takes on Dvalishvili in his second bout since coming out retirement. The fight has been on fans’ radar since Cejudo lost his return bout against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288 in May.
“I’m going to be fighting Merab Dvalishvili, if I’m even pronouncing it right, on February 17th. UFC 298. I mean, we all saw this stuff coming,” Cejudo said on the video.
“This fight is going to decide who’s actually going to fight the eventual winner of Chito Vera versus Sean O’Malley.”
O’Malley took the title off of Sterling at UFC 292 in August, and then called out Chito Vera. Vera hold a win over O’Malley and the champion seems set on getting the win back.
“I’m excited. I’m not sure if we’re going to co-headline this fight with Ilia Topuria and Alexander Volkanovski but either way this fight is absolutely going to be bonkers,” Cejudo said.
For Cejudo it’s a chance to earn a second shot at his old bantamweight title after returning from retirement.
For Dvalishvili, who many believe should be fighting for the title now, a win presumably gets him a title shot for the first time in his UFC career.
UFC 298 takes place in Anaheim, CA on Feb. 17 headlined by Topuria challenging Volkanovski for the featherweight title.
