Henry Cejudo considered retired, bantamweight title now vacant
Earlier this month at UFC 249, Henry Cejudo shocked the world when he retired at the age of 33. The news came right after he made his first bantamweight title defense by earning a TKO win over former longtime champ Dominick Cruz.
After the stunning news, many people doubted his retirement, but now his retirement appears to be the real thing as the UFC removed Cejudo’s name from the title page and the official rankings on the UFC website.
Once the world noticed the removal of Cejudo’s name, ESPN confirmed that Cejudo is now considered retired by promotion officials and therefore, the UFC bantamweight title is now vacant. While the UFC views Cejudo as retired, there is now word at this time as to whether or not Cejudo has removed himself from the USADS drug-testing pool.
Cejudo is one of the most successful combat athletes of all time. In 2008, he won an Olympic gold medal in wrestling and following his wrestling career, he started competing in mixed martial arts, where he went on to win the UFC’s flyweight and bantamweight championships. He also is one of four people in UFC history to hold two titles in two different weight classes at the same time.
At the time of his retirement announcement, Cejudo was considered to be in the prime of his career. He was on a six fight unbeaten streak and his last loss came in 2016. He also ended Demetrious Johnson’s reign as flyweight champion, which snapped Johnson’s UFC record of 11 title defenses.
The UFC has not officially announced any further plans regarding the vacant bantamweight title. UFC president Dana White said after UFC 249 that Petr Yan would be one of the two men that will compete for the belt at 135-pounds. Yan was scheduled to fight Marlon Moraes in June, but the travel ban from the global coronavirus pandemic as affected that fight.
