Long after he became a grappling expert and secured championships in the UFC, Henry Cejudo is finally getting acquainted with the complexities of boxing.

Lined up for his first boxing match on September 26, in which he faces former world champion Adrien Broner‘s protégé and livestreaming partner DeenTheGreat, the Olympic gold medalist now confronts something viewed by many as one of the sport’s most controversial aspects.

“He (Deen) was trying to put a rehydration clause in there too for me,” Cejudo told his co-host on the Pound 4 Pound podcast, Kamaru Usman.

It is important to note those comments are largely Cejudo’s version. DeenTheGreat has not publicly confirmed demanding a rehydration clause. If what Cejudo mentioned is true, the question is why would the Kick streamer introduce something that has been routinely criticized, even by some boxing insiders, especially since the influencer boxer is slightly bigger than the UFC veteran?

Get the EssentiallySports Daily Newsletter. Stay ahead of the game with daily updates, exclusive stories, expert takes, and the biggest moments from the world's most popular sports.

Strictly speaking, a rehydration clause is a contractual restriction that limits how much weight a fighter can regain between the weigh-in, which usually happens the day before the fight, and the time when the boxers step into the ring.

That premise alone raises questions about why Deen would want such a clause. Standing at 5 feet, 6 inches (168 centimeters) and having a 67-inch (170-centimeter) reach, he has a size advantage over Cejudo, who is 5 feet, 4 inches tall and has a 64-inch reach.

Against that backdrop, in recent memory, one of the most notable instances in which a rehydration clause gained significant attention was the 2023 fight between Gervonta Davis and Ryan Garcia. Fought at a 136-pound catchweight, the bout at T-Mobile Arena on April 22 was reportedly contested under a rehydration clause under which Garcia could not exceed the catchweight by more than 10 pounds, meaning he had to limit himself to 146 pounds when he stepped inside the ring.

As Garcia lost the bout via a seventh-round knockout, many attributed that setback, at least in part, to the restrictions on his ability to regain weight.

In Cejudo’s case, it looks like the former two-division UFC champion is aware of the disadvantage he would face if he agreed to Deen’s demands.

“I’m like, ‘Nah, you dumb motherf–ker, you wait—you wait till you see how big I am by the time he sees me in that freaking ring. He’s going to get scared,” he told Usman.

So the MMA fighter who retired from the UFC after dropping a decision to Payton Talbott at UFC 323 in December last year wants to intimidate DeenTheGreat and get inside his head before the face-off at Miami’s James L. Knight Center next month.

Some hints in that direction have already come from an unexpected source.

DeenTheGreat begins laying the groundwork for Henry Cejudo fight

UFC lightweight Bobby ‘King’ Green, who has recently been involved in a rivalry with Broner and Deen’s camp, revealed a few details in a recent interview.

“So, I talked to Deen about it (fight with Cejudo), and I’m like, ‘Deen, so who do you have to fight?'” Green told Mystic Zach on the Double Coverage Podcast. “And so, he ends up confirming that or something. I’m like, ‘Oh, yeah. You guys fighting?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah.’ And the first thing he said was this. He said…what is it called? ‘Rehydration clause.’ The first thing he said after he said who’s fighting, he said, ‘Rehydration clause.'”

According to Green, that step could be viewed as a sign of weakness. If both fighters make the same weight, which in Cejudo’s and Deen’s case has been fixed at 136 lbs, then it does not matter if one gains weight just before the fight.

One reason Deen could have considered that step is because he is aiming for a title at Misfits Boxing.

Active in the crossover scene since 2022, when he first competed in MF & DAZN X Series 1, Deen, whose official name is Nurideen Shahid Shabazz, won the ICB (Influencer Championship Belt World Title) North American welterweight title at 140 pounds.

A few months later, he moved down to 130 pounds and secured the ICB World super featherweight title against Walid “Sharks” Muhsein. A year later, he became the MF lightweight champion after defeating Shazan Humza Idrees, aka Pully Arif.

However, in 2024, MF stripped Deen of their title after he rejected a mandatory challenge. Last year, on December 20, he dropped a decision to legend Fernando Verga’s son Amado Vargas.

So, it’s likely Deen views the fight against Cejudo as a stepping stone toward his next title opportunity. If that is the goal, the alleged rehydration clause could be a part of that strategy.