Henry Cejudo retired from mixed martial arts (MMA) last night (Sat., May 9, 2020) at UFC 249 live on ESPN+ pay-per-view (PPV) from inside VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida. after taking out Dominick Cruz via second-round TKO to successfully defend his UFC bantamweight championship.
After the fight, Cejudo met UFC color commentator Joe Rogan in the center of the Octagon and took his turn on the microphone (shown above). To much surprise, the UFC bantamweight king announced that he is walking away from the sport on top.
Check out Cejudo’s post-fight interview above courtesy of UFC/ESPN.
Cejudo, 33, is a former Olympic gold medalist winner in wrestling. The man once known as “The Messenger” made his UFC debut back in 2014. After a few difficult weight cuts and tough fights, Cejudo was able to earn a title shot against then UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson at UFC 197, which he lost via first-round TKO.
Cejudo would work his way back from his loss to “Mighty Mouse” by winning two out of his next three bouts to earn a rematch with Johnson in 2018 at UFC 227. “Messenger” ended up pulling off the upset and defeating Johnson via split decision, ending the record-setting title reign of the champ.
Cejudo would then defend his newly-acquired UFC flyweight title against T.J. Dillashaw at UFC on ESPN+ 1 with a memorable 32-second TKO finish. Next, Cejudo landed a shot to become double champ in an interim bantamweight title fight with Marlon Moraes at UFC 238. The string of success would continue for Cejudo as he defeated Moraes via third-round TKO to win another title and subsequently change his name to “Triple C.”
With his retirement from MMA after UFC 249’s co-main event win, Cejudo will leave behind a career record of 15-2 and one of the more memorable runs in recent UFC history.
For complete UFC 249 results and coverage click here.
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