Former UFC two-division champion, Henry Cejudo announced his retirement from MMA after his win over Dominick Cruz at UFC 249. Though he was officially retired like many he has always been teasing a return to the octagon.
However, Cejudo has shut the door on a possible UFC return as he has reportedly removed his name from the USADA testing pool. A fighter must remain under the USADA testing pool in order to compete in UFC. And this move from Cejudo only suggests that he is finally moving away from mixed martial arts.
BREAKING: Henry Cejudo has removed himself from USADA testing pool. He won't be able to compete in UFC anymore. pic.twitter.com/iuGSumZq73
— Nice guy Conor 🙂 (@MmaGodfather) March 13, 2021
Now he certainly can come back and fight in the UFC. However, he would need to stay in the USADA testing pool for six months ahead of his octagon return. Though a UFC return is still an option for Cejudo it does not look like the CCC wants to step into the octagon again.
Henry Cejudo did show interest in a historic showdown against the UFC featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski. Both Cejudo and Volkanovski have traded verbal jabs over social media for a long time now. And it was expected that Cejudo would make a return to either fight Volkanovski or the bantamweight champion. But his withdrawal from the USADA pool has certainly sent a clear message to the MMA community.
What’s the legacy of Henry Cejudo looks like?
Do you know that Henry Cejudo has a gold medal in Olympic Wrestling? Well, every time we bring up Henry Cejudo the gold medal will always be there alongside his King of Cringe persona.
However, it’s insane how often Cejudo is overlooked while debating over MMA GOATs. Henry Cejudo is undoubtedly one of the greatest to ever do it if not the greatest mixed martial artists of all time.
He came back from early losses in his career and dethroned the long-reigning flyweight king, Demetrious Johnson. Cejudo also beat arguably the greatest bantamweight of all time, Dominick Cruz. He ruled two UFC divisions and beat the best guys from both divisions. No UFC fighter has been able to achieve this milestone yet.
We surely can bring up double champions such as Daniel Cormier and Amanda Nunes who have defended their titles in two divisions. However, Cormier lost to Sipe Miocic and Jon Jones twice while Nunes rules the women’s featherweight division, which has only two contenders at the moment.
It’s safe to say that Henry Cejudo has conquered two different sports and three different weight classes in his glorious career. And he can be considered as the most accomplished UFC fighter of all time.
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