Henry Cejudo didn't expect to hop back onto the wrestling mats so soon.
The Olympic gold medalist and former two-division UFC champion wrestled against Merab Dvalishvili at RAF Georgia on July 11, losing by decision. Now Cejudo is set to run it back with the fellow former UFC champion in the main event of RAF 12, which takes place Saturday at Rocket Arena in Cleveland.
The lineup is impressive, but Cejudo said the wrestling promotion contacted him about a rematch with Dvalishvili to take it to the next level. Initially, Cejudo thought about letting Dvalishvili focus on his upcoming title rematch against Petr Yan at UFC 333 first, but ultimately the wrestling rematch was set.
For Cejudo, losing to Dvalishvili stuck with him for several reasons,
including not representing America as he hoped and losing a match he felt he should have won after jumping out to an 8-0 lead.
"Yeah, a little bit of everything," Cejudo told MMA Junkie Radio. "Of course it stings. Of course it does. I think it's a little bit of everything, but at the same time, I think that I've been able to let it go, get over it, and just jump in there again. You know what I'm saying? Just do it again – and this time be more prepared better."
Cejudo admits he didn't train as he should have for his first matchup against Dvalishvili because he went a little too hard during his honeymoon. While recognizing he was a part of a big moment for Dvalishvili in his home country, Cejudo doesn't want to lose to him again, and says he got in some solid training for the rematch.
"That crowd in Georgia, bro – the only time I can compare that to is when I wrestled in Iran and was in the finals, and I could feel a big ol' wave when I got taken down by the Iranian, where it was almost like that energy kind of hit me," Cejudo said. "It felt similar in Georgia, bro. Because Merab started coming up, the stadium was legit shaking. It sucks (losing), but I'll take it on the chin. I'll take it as a man. I did get tired, you could see it.
"... I was telling my wife earlier, it really humbled the sh*t out of me, man. Sometimes, and Kamaru (Usman) brought this up and apparently Dave Chappelle said it: sometimes you're living the dream and sometimes you become part of somebody's dream. It just kind of works that way. I just happened to become a part of a moment for Merab that he'll never forget in his life – and it f*cking sucks."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Henry Cejudo: Merab Dvalishvili RAF loss 'humbled the sh*t out of me'
