Henry Cejudo may be forced to retire from fighting.
The former two-division UFC champion suffered a brutal eye poke from Song Yadong in the main event at UFC Seattle this past February. This resulted in a premature and controversial end to the fight, with Cejudo losing by technical decision. Since then, Cejudo has spoken about the severity of his eye injury and his dissatisfaction with how referee Jason Herzog handled the situation.
In an interview, Cejudo, 38, mentioned that this lingering injury could cause him to retire again if his condition doesn`t improve.
“I never really thought of mixed martial arts as particularly dangerous,” Cejudo said. “I`ve been talking to my wife, and I think this could potentially be my last fight. One more and that`s it. If I could have a rematch with Song, I would be happy with that. But if it`s not Song, I`d like to fight anyone the UFC is willing to give me.”
“I want to be able to play with my kids. I don’t want to lose an eye. That`s honestly how I`m feeling right now.”
Cejudo initially retired in 2020 after successfully defending his bantamweight title against Dominick Cruz at UFC 249. This victory followed a successful flyweight title reign, making Cejudo the only combat sports athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in wrestling and UFC championships in two divisions.
He returned in May 2023 to challenge bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288, but lost on points after a competitive fight. Cejudo is currently 0-3 in his second UFC stint.
Now, he is contemplating retiring again.
“I might sound like a crybaby, but this is the worst injury I’ve ever had,” Cejudo said. “I got a second opinion. I even went to one of Sean O’Malley’s doctors, who said my eye would be fine in a month. But even now, when I watch TV or look down, I still see double. It`s been a month since a pinkie finger went into my eye, and I`m still not 100 percent. The doctor said it looks like another month. Korean Zombie had the same symptoms, which led to his retirement. I`m seeing double. When I look a certain way, I see two feet.”
“Luckily, it only happens when I lie down or look down. But it took about five days for my eye to stop seeing double after the injury. It`s not that I couldn`t see, but I was seeing two of everything, and you don`t know which one is real. So, if I reached out, I might grab the wrong thing.”
“I got screwed,” Cejudo added. “I wanted to fight. I just wanted to fight with two functioning eyes.”
Cejudo is eager to return to the octagon one more time, if possible, hoping for a proper retirement fight. However, his availability depends on the condition of his eye, so there`s a chance that UFC Seattle marked the end of his legendary career.
“I don’t mind losing, but I don’t want to end my career getting hit in the eyeball,” Cejudo said. “It just can`t end like that. And I`m grateful. I love Dana and everyone at the UFC. This isn`t a criticism of the UFC. They’ve given me a platform to help my family and put myself in a great position for the future. But at the same time, my health is the top priority.”
“I’m not sure what the UFC has planned,” Cejudo added. “I definitely want to fight sometime in the fall. Let my eye heal; they said another 30 days. But if it doesn’t get better, I don’t know when I’ll be back. I think this is the last one, and that’s it.”
