Henry Cejudo is adding a third combat sport at 39.
The Olympic gold medallist and two-division UFC champion will make his professional boxing debut against Nurideen “Deen The Great” Shabazz on September 26 at the James L. Knight Arena in Miami. Misfits Boxing announced the fight and it streams on DAZN.
Cejudo has boxed before, but only as an amateur. He won the Arizona State Copper Gloves tournament in 2010.
He has a wrestling match to get through first. Cejudo faces Merab Dvalishvili at Real American Freestyle 12 in Cleveland, in a rematch of the freestyle bout Dvalishvili won on points in Georgia in July. RAF is the promotion co-founded last year by Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff, with Kurt Angle and Chael Sonnen among its commentary team. Cejudo also beat Urijah Faber at RAF 6 in February.
If he comes out of tonight without injury, he has five weeks to prepare for the boxing debut.
Cejudo retired from MMA for the second time in December after losing a decision to Payton Talbott at UFC 323, his fourth straight defeat since returning to the sport in 2023. He finished 10-6 in the UFC and held the flyweight and bantamweight titles. He won freestyle wrestling gold at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Shabazz is 25 and has built his following through viral street fight content. He debuted for Misfits in 2022 and has worked mostly in exhibitions since, going 7-1, most recently losing a decision to Amado Vargas at Misfits Mania in December.
