Feb 22, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Henry Cejudo (red gloves) is introduced prior to fighting Song Yadong (blue gloves) in the bantamweight bout during UFC Fight Night at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

Aiemann Zahabi says Henry Cejudo has too many outside distractions ahead of UFC 323.

Cejudo (16-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) will likely make the final walk of his career against rising bantamweight star Payton Talbott (10-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) on Saturday's main card (pay-per-view, ESPN2/FX/Disney+, ESPN+) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The former UFC dual champion is yet to win since coming out of retirement in 2023, but Zahabi wonders if he's motivated enough to snap his losing skid.

"He's so famous right now, Henry Cejudo," Zahabi told MMA Junkie. "He's got such an incredible podcast with Usman, they're doing phenomenal, great interviews, they're putting out a great product, he travels a lot, got a gym. He's got so many things going on. He's got a lot of pans on the stove. If he's not training at the level he was training when he was competing before the podcast, before the fame, before all of the success, Talbott might get this one over him. Henry's got the better wrestling, but is he maintaining it? Is his sword still sharp? Or has it dulled too much. Raoni Barcelos came to win that fight. Yeah, he's old, but he didn't want to go down like that.

"He didn't want to lose to this kid. He came hungry. Like, how hungry is Henry? I feel like it's going to come down to how much effort he put in training. Technically on paper, Henry should win, but does he have the heart? Does he have the mindset to go out on his shield? Is he going to fight reserved? There's so many questions about Henry whereas Talbott, this up-and-coming kid, he lost one time, doesn't want to lose again. He beat another prospect after his loss, kind of redeemed himself, and now he's got this wonderful opportunity to step on a guy who's won the belt, won a gold medal in the Olympics, could really build his name off of."

The bettings odds appear to support Zahabi's theory as Cejudo finds himself as a sizable underdog against Talbott.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Aiemann Zahabi questions Henry Cejudo's hunger for UFC 323 bout

Reporting by Farah Hannoun and Mike Bohn, MMA Junkie / MMA Junkie

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect