Manager: Henry Cejudo will fight Sergio Pettis at UFC 218 despite injuries, lost Olympic medal in fire

Henry Cejudo is somewhat distraught after losing several important personal items and suffering a burn to his foot while escaping the deadly Northern California wildfires. However, it won’t stop him from fighting Sergio Pettis at UFC 218.

MMAjunkie today spoke with Cejudo’s (11-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) manager, Ali Abdelaziz of Dominance MMA, and confirmed Cejudo evacuated from the fire and still intends on fighting Pettis (16-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) at UFC 218, which takes place Dec. 2 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit. The card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

“He woke up to the fire alarm, but he thought it was just a false alarm so he went back to sleep,” Abdelaziz told MMAjunkie. “He woke up at 4 a.m. to his room being filled with smoke. He had no choice but to jump (from the balcony) on the second floor. He landed on some fire and burned his foot. He’s safe.”

Abdelaziz said the damage to Cejudo’s foot isn’t overly severe. He confirmed there was no broken ankle, as sfchronicle.com first reported, instead described the damage as “scabbing and blisters.” The physical injuries will heal, but the disappointment of losing some significant personal items is likely to last much longer.

Cejudo was in the area to attend Ronnie Lott’s celebrity fundraiser at Mayacama Golf Club in Santa Rosa, Calif. Abdelaziz said “The Messenger” was able to escape the hotel room with only his cell phone and was forced to leave behind the gold medal he won in the 2008 Olympic games, other awards from his wrestling career, an iPad, clothing and more.

After going through the experience, Abdelaziz said Cejudo, No. 3 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA flyweight rankings, leaves today for Brazil to begin his training camp for No. 6-ranked Pettis alongside Bellator standouts Patricio and Patricky Freire.

Many consider the UFC 218 fight between Cejudo and Pettis as a title-eliminator in the 125-pound division. Cejudo said following his second-round knockout of Wilson Reis at UFC 215 in September that he’s gunning for a rematch with champ Demetrious Johnson, who handed him a first-round TKO loss at UFC 197 in April 2016.

“I’m the one (to defeat Johnson),” Cejudo said. “I know I’m the one. I have the style, I have the wrestling. I know I’m the one to beat Demetrious Johnson. No disrespect to these fighters, no disrespect to any of them. Anybody has that fighter’s chance, but I believe I have the style to eventually beat him, and I truly do believe that.”

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