One of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the UFC walked away from the sport in his prime in 2020. That fighter would be the former two-division world champion and Olympic Gold Medalist, Henry Cejudo (16-2).
We last saw Henry Cejudo compete at UFC 249 where he defended his bantamweight title against Dominick Cruz. Cejudo executed a perfect game plan that night and went on to finish Cruz in the second round to retain his title.
After the fight was over, Cejudo was interviewed by Joe Rogan inside the octagon. It was at that moment where the two-division UFC champion announced that he would be walking away from the sport at 33 years old.
It was a shocking announcement for most considering Cejudo’s stature in the sport. Cejudo had just capped off a four-fight run where he defeated Demetrious Johnson, TJ Dillashaw, Marlon Moraes, and Dominick Cruz in UFC title fights.
“Triple C” appeared to be just starting out his reign of dominance as he decided to walk away. However, it wasn’t the first time Cejudo walked away on top. He also walked away from wrestling after winning his gold medal.
Yet, there has been rumblings about Cejudo’s desire to compete in the UFC again. Cejudo has stayed extremely active online calling fighters out and expressing his desire to fight. Most recently, Cejudo posted a music video talking about it being his next walkout song.Â
Will Cejudo return to the UFC?
Earlier this year, Cejudo appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience where he said he would love to come out of retirement if the fight was right. The one fight he said he wanted was Alexander Volkanovski.
The UFC‘s featherweight champion is tentatively scheduled to defend his title against Brian Ortega in Q1 2021. However, Cejudo talked about his desire to capture a title in a third weight class which has never been done in the UFC.
In my personal opinion, I think there’s too many opportunities inside the cage for Cejudo to stay away. This upcoming year Cejudo will just be turning 34 years old. There are many fights that could bring the former champion out of retirement.
A featherweight title fight could bring him out but also a fight with UFC flyweight champion, Deiveson Figueiredo, could bring him out of retirement. I would put the odds at 50/50 that we see Cejudo in 2021. The odds are even higher for seeing him to return to the UFC at some point.