MMA great Henry Cejudo praises retired UFC champions Khabib Nurmagomedov and Daniel Cormier, proclaiming that “Wrestling is life.”

Cejudo retired from mixed martial arts in May following a TKO win over Dominick Cruz, giving up his UFC bantamweight title in the process. As for Cormier, he retired following a decision loss to Stipe Miocic at UFC 252. And of course, Nurmagomdov retired following his submission win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 this weekend of Fight Island.

Taking to social media following Nurmagomedov’s surprise announcement, Cejudo praised his fellow former UFC champions and long-time wrestlers Nurmagomedov and Cormier on their incredible MMA careers. He specifically pointed out that the late Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov would have been very proud of his son.

https://twitter.com/HenryCejudo/status/1320349638663245827

Congrats on your amazing career @khabib_nurmagomedov you will truly be missed. I know your dad is proud of the amazing son he has raised. This year has been a year of the greatest combat Sports athletes of all time retiring in front of the world. #wrestlingislife

Cejudo, of course, may always return to the cage at some point. He is still young at age 33 and was coming off of a string of dominant victories before suddenly walking away from the sport back at UFC 249 in May. Cejudo may be lured back to the Octagon with the prospect of a superfight against Alexander Volkanovski a possibly. Cejudo has said he wants to achieve great things in this sport and three titles would be just that.

Regardless if Henry Cejudo ever fights again, he will go down as one of the all-time greats in the sport and so will Khabib Nurmagomedov and Daniel Cormier. All three men came from a wrestling background to hone their base before dominating in mixed martial arts. When it’s all said and done, look for all three men to be in the UFC Hall of Fame.