Henry Cejudo returns to the Octagon this weekend in Seattle in search of his first win inside the Octagon since May of 2020.
After stopping Dominick Cruz to defend the bantamweight title at UFC 249, 'Triple C' announced his retirement from MMA.
The former flyweight titleholder has put on an incredible winning streak with Cejudo beating the likes of TJ Dillashaw and Demetrious Johnson.
After leaving the sport on top, the Olympic gold medallist returned three years later where Cejudo faced Merab Dvalishvili and Aljamain Sterling, suffering back-to-back decision losses.
Cejudo now faces Song Yadong as he looks to get back in the win column on February 22 but he isn't afraid to acknowledge that it has taken him some time to make up for the hiatus.
Henry Cejudo is set to take on the #8-ranked Song Yadong in this Saturday's main event at the Climate Pledge Arena.
Having spent 40-minutes inside the Octagon against the former and current bantamweight champions since making his return, 'Triple C' has been able to reflect on what changed whilst he was away.
Cejudo told Kevin Iole in a fight week interview that he has been able to identify what he believes he lost when he decided to take a three-year break from fighting.
He thinks that the most difficult thing to build back up has been his ability to recover in the fight after not competing for so long.
Whilst he isn't concerned about age or wear and tear, the former champ-champ admits that he has needed some time to shake off the ring rust.
"I would say I think the biggest thing would be recovery. Having the ability to really recover during rounds dude, I think that was one of the biggest things. Obviously competing man, competing on a pretty consistent level like you will feel it. It will feel a little foreign to you but I think partially what makes me great is my honesty with me, not buying into the fluff.
"Obviously you're always going to have your naysayers or whatnot but I live in me, I am me, so I gotta make those proper adjustments and decisions to be able to come back after a two-fight losing streak to really turn the page and write that book correctly how I want to."
There's a huge age gap between Henry Cejudo and Song Yadong with the former champion being 38-years-old whilst his Chinese opponent is still just 27.
Despite this, both men have the exact same amount of UFC fighters under their belts with 14 each whilst Yadong has 10 more pro fights on his record overall.
They've also both featured in the main event the exact same amount of times with Cejudo headlining against Dillashaw, Marlon Moraes and Sterling whilst 'The Kung Fu Kid' topped the bill in three consecutive fights with Cory Sandhagen, Ricky Simon and Chris Gutierrez.
That being said, Cejudo is by far the most accomplished competitor that Yadong has fought and his championship experience could be crucial in this fight if it hits the later rounds.