Henry Cejudo’s incredible combat sports career ended on a losing note.
The Olympic gold medallist and former two-weight UFC champion lost a unanimous decision to Payton Talbott on the main card of UFC 323 in what was the final fight of his mixed martial arts career on Saturday in Las Vegas.
The 38-year-old American confirmed in the days leading up to the event that it would be the last fight of his career before hanging up his gloves for good.
“I think I've done everything at the highest level since I was 11 years old,” Cejudo said earlier in the week. “I'm ready to move on, too. I have a couple kids that want to play with their dad 24/7.”
Cejudo was out-landed 134-60 in significant strikes and was taken down three times in the three-round contest with all three judges awarding all rounds to Talbott.
The UFC, knowing it was Cejudo’s farewell bout, played a prepared video montage at T-Mobile Arena and on the broadcast to celebrate his UFC career.
Cejudo won an Olympic gold medal in freestyle wrestling in 2008 in Beijing in the 55-kilogram division before eventually beginning MMA in 2013.
He started out 6-0 before debuting in the UFC less than two years after making his professional debut. Cejudo won his first four UFC fights to earn a title fight against longtime flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, but lost his first shot at UFC gold at UFC 197 in 2016. After dropping a close split decision to Joseph Benevidez in his subsequent outing, Cejudo went on a lengthy winning streak that saw him become the seventh two-weight champion in UFC history.
Wins over Wilson Reis and Sergio Pettis earned him a second shot against Johnson, and Cejudo became the 125-pound champion with a tightly contested split decision win at UFC 227 in 2018.
Cejudo defended the flyweight title with a 32-second TKO win over T.J. Dillashaw before announcing he was moving up to 135 pounds to pursue the bantamweight title, which he won by defeating Marlon Moraes in 2019. He defended the bantamweight belt with a TKO win over former champion Dominick Cruz in May 2020 at UFC 249, after which he announced his retirement.
Cejudo decided to come out of retirement after three years and has gone 0-4 since making that decision. He lost a split decision in his 2023 title fight with Aljamain Sterling then was outworked by Merab Dvalishvili in his lone 2024 showing.
His most recent appearance prior to UFC 323 ended in unfortunate circumstances when he lost a technical decision to Song Yadong in February after an eye poke rendered Cejudo unable to continue. The bout was called off after three rounds in a scheduled five-rounder.
The unranked Talbott got the better of Cejudo in nearly every facet of their matchup and Cejudo confirmed after the fight was over that it's time for him to call it a career.
Despite ending his career on a losing streak, Cejudo is regarded as one of the most accomplished combat sports athletes of his generation and will likely one day find himself in the UFC Hall of Fame.
