UFC Bantamweight title officially vacated after Henry Cejudo announces retirement

• UFC Bantamweight title is now officially vacant as Henry Cejudo has announced retirement
• UFC Bantamweight division to get a new champion soon.

Henry Cejudo announced a surprising retirement at UFC 249. Now the UFC has confirmed that his decision that Cejudo is no longer the division champion by releasing a ranking which shows the bantamweight title as vacant.

The news was confirmed to MMA fighting. Henry Cejudo had a very short reign as the bantamweight champion and only had 1 title defense but that doesn't mean he didn't leave a strong mark on the division. He first defeated T.J Dillashaw at flyweight, proceeded to defeat former WSOF champion Marlon Moraes to capture the bantamweight title, and then secured a knockout win over former two-time champion Dominick Cruz, widely regarded as the greatest bantamweight of all time.

Henry Cejudo's departure means that the UFC bantamweight division is now on a lookout for a new champion. There are plenty of options, you have former title-challenger, Marlon Moraes, rising contender Aljamain Sterling or the fan-favorite Petr Yan.

The overall nature of conversation at bantamweight is currently still pretty much around Petr Yan who in his last fight defeated Urijah Faber with a knockout. He's undefeated in the UFC and has been actively pepursuing bantamweight title shot. Even Dana White claimed it was going to Petr Yan vs. somebody, "It’s Petr Yan and somebody. We’ll get that figured out too. We’ll make a title fight next week for the vacant title and probably do that fight as soon as possible.

Henry Cejudo on the other hand has been on a different ride. He has expressed interest in comepting against Alexander Volkanovski for the featherweight title, "Honestly if there's one fight that would really wake me up, that would be worth it for me to be like, 'Hey man I'm willing to put on my credentials on the line for somebody,' it would be fighting Alexander Volkanvoski at 145 pounds. Then I'd be C4"

As far as the rest of the bantamweights are concerned, they too have been trying to grab the spotlight. Aljamain Sterling has been booked for a fight not announced yet so that means he's out of the picture.

Making the path a bit clear for Marlon Moraes but in these volatile times it would be bold to make a prediction like that. Let's see what is in store for the bantamweight division.

Published 26 May 2020, 00:11 IST