Henry Cejudo confirms his retirement is legit.
In the co-main event of UFC 249, Cejudo was looking to defend his bantamweight title for the first time when he battled Dominick Cruz. “Triple C” was having success early on and then landed a knee that dropped the former champ and he finished him off with ground and pound strikes.
Immediately, many thought Cejudo would call out the likes of Jose Aldo or Alexander Volkanovski. Yet, he shocked many by announcing his retirement.
“I’m happy with my career,” Cejudo said. “I’ve done enough in the sport. I want to walk away and enjoy myself. I’m 33 years old. I have a girl now, watching me from back home. Since I was 11, I’ve sacrificed my life to get to where I was tonight. I’m retiring tonight. Uncle Dana [UFC president Dana White], thank you. Everybody here, thank you so much.”
Following the event, many thought his retirement wasn’t real and he would be back fairly soon. Yet, his coach told BJPENN.com it was permanent and now the Olympic gold medalist took to social media to confirm his retirement.
https://twitter.com/HenryCejudo/status/1264998752936513537
“Thank you for the awesome experiences uncle @danawhite I will forever be grateful,” Cejudo wrote. “Thank you for taking a chance on the sport that people thought would never make it. To all my coaches and fans it been a wonderful ride. Triple C is out #retiredontop.”
If this truly is the end for Cejudo he ends his career with a record of 16-2 while retiring as the bantamweight champion. He also claimed flyweight gold back at UFC 227 when he beat Demetrious Johnson by decision.
Triple C has notable wins over Johnson, T.J. Dillashaw, Marlon Moraes, and Sergio Pettis.
What do you make of Henry Cejudo confirming his retirement?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 5/25/2020