Regularly teasing another retirement since he returned, Henry Cejudo says this time, it’s real. Honest. No take-backs. No erasies. Probably. Wink.
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before: Henry Cejudo says his next fight will be his last.
It’s a retirement in the attention economy-driven combat sports world, though, and Cejudo has gone down this road before. It’s his last fight – unless he gets an offer that has enough money attached to it to make it not his last fight. Cejudo said as much during his latest maybe-retirement announcement during the LFA 220 broadcast stream on UFC Fight Pass on Saturday.
Cejudo (16-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) takes on Payton Talbott (10-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) at UFC 323 on Dec. 6 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The former two-division UFC champ and two-time Olympic wrestling gold medalist first retired in 2020 after a bantamweight title win over Dominick Cruz.
That retirement lasted three years and he returned in 2023 for a title shot against Aljamain Sterling, but lost a split decision. Nine months later, he lost to current champion Merab Dvalishvili. Earlier this year, he lost to Song Yadong for his third straight setback. Cejudo is 38. Talbott is 27 and considered one of the UFC’s top bantamweight prospects, and Cejudo said he likes the challenge.
“It’s my last fight – whatever the UFC wants to give me,” Cejudo said on the broadcast. “I love it when the lights are bright. Give me the best you’ve got, bro. End me with a bang. (It’s my last fight) – or is it?!
“This is it, man. I feel in love with business. I do a lot. I have two kids – they’re growing up. I don’t like cutting weight, raising kids, the whole 9. I like being there. I fell in love with real estate, marketing, the whole 9. I’m making such a great living doing it that it’s time to just ‘Peace out.'”
But of course, Cejudo said he’d come back for the right money. “I don’t think they’ll give me that. I just don’t. But if they do, sure – why not?”
Ultimately, Cejudo said he takes pride in “the fact that I was able to save a whole division” – flyweight – from being eliminated by the UFC and that he was able to inspire people.
Cejudo won the flyweight title in 2018 against Demetrious Johnson with a split decision. The majority of analysts and pundits scored the fight for Johnson, including several at four rounds to one. A year later, he won the vacant bantamweight title against Marlon Moraes to become a two-division champion. He defended each belt one time.
Check out Cejudo’s latest retirement announcement below.
