UFC bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo decided to call it a career following his recent title defense against Dominick Cruz at UFC 249.
‘Triple C’ squared off with ‘The Dominator’ in the co-headliner of last weekend’s pay-per-view event in Jacksonville. The result was a second round TKO victory for Cejudo, marking the first time he had defended his bantamweight throne.
In his post fight interview with Joe Rogan, Henry Cejudo shocked the mixed martial arts world by announcing his retirement from the sport at the tender age of 33-years-old.
The former UFC champ-champ cited the fact that he had already defeated MMA’s GOAT in Demetrious Johnson, as well as the two greatest bantamweights in TJ Dillashaw and Domincik Cruz, as his reason for hanging up the gloves.
Having already dominated the sports of wrestling, where he captured an Olympic Gold medal, and MMA where he became a two-division UFC champion, many believed Cejudo’s next move may be to the squared circle.
‘Triple C’ even recently flirted with the idea of fighting undefeated professional boxer Ryan Garcia.
However, according to Henry Cejudo’s longtime manager in Ali Abdelaziz, his fighter is not going anywhere and will compete again before the summer is up.
“Khabib every time he fights, ‘I think I’m done,’” Ali told TMZ Sports. “2 weeks later, ‘Who you think I should fight next?’ Because these guys are at their prime. Henry’s coming into his prime. How you gonna retire in your prime?”
Abdelaziz continued by suggesting that Henry Cejudo will return to the Octagon this summer.
“Henry has everybody on their knees right now. I don’t think he’s gonna retire. You’re gonna see him fight by the summer.”
If Henry Cejudo does in fact return to fight, he has plenty of options and deserving contenders waiting for him. Among those are Petr Yan, Aljamain Sterling and former featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo, whom Cejudo was initially slated to face at the now postponed UFC 250 event.
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This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on May 17, 2020