Henry Cejudo confirms retirement in a heartfelt statement

• Henry Cejudo has just released a statement confirming his retirement from professional MMA
• Cejudo took to Twitter to officially confirm his retirement and thanked the UFC president Dana White in a heartfelt speech

The now-former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo has just released a statement confirming his retirement from professional MMA. "The Triple C" first made the shocking announcement post his TKO victory against former champion Dominick Cruz in the co-headliner of UFC 249 on May 9.

Henry Cejudo signs off in style

Cejudo took to Twitter to officially confirm his retirement and thanked the UFC president Dana White in a heartfelt speech, expressing gratitude for what the latter's done for him over the years. He also thanked all his fans and coaches for having his back throughout what's been a wonderful journey.

Cejudo also mentioned something that might be the real factor behind his sudden retirement from the sport. "The King of Cringe" said that he retired while being on top and it's a trend with many world-class athletes where they want the world to remember them for their performance while they're at the peak of their abilities and therefore retire early. The same could be the reason for Cejudo bring down the curtains on what's been a glorious career.

"Thank you for the awesome experiences uncle @danawhite. I will forever be grateful. Thank you for taking a chance on the sport that people thought would never make it. To all my coaches and fans it been a wonderful ride. Triple C is out. #retiredontop"

Henry Cejudo's confirmation comes hours after the UFC declared the bantamweight title as vacant and removed him from the bantamweight rankings, acknowledging the Olympic gold medalist's retirement from the fight game.

There were brief hopes of an Octagon return for Cejudo after the man himself expressed the desire to step out of retirement for a clash of epic proportions against the reigning UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski but that seems like a distant dream now following Cejudo's latest announcement.

"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"

If the world has indeed seen the last of Henry Cejudo inside the Octagon, no one can deny the absolutely brilliant skill-set the man possesses and his unbelievable exploits against the top fighters in both the flyweight and bantamweight divisions.

We at Sportskeeda would like to congratulate Cejudo on a glorious professional career and wish him all the very best for his future endeavors.

Published 26 May 2020, 04:31 IST