Henry Cejudo declared his “legacy rampage” is finally over after posting a photo of himself sleeping alongside his belts and custom-made pillows featuring the faces of Demetrious Johnson, TJ Dillashaw and Dominick Cruz.
“Triple C” Cejudo (16-2) announced his surprise retirement from MMA after defending his bantamweight title against Cruz by second-round TKO at UFC 249 in Florida on Saturday.
“The legacy rampage is finished. Sincerely the greatest combat athlete of all time – Triple C”, Cejudo tweeted on Monday night.
The 33-year-old, who is also a 2008 Olympic wrestling gold medallist, has expressed interest in business and property ventures but hinted that he could be tempted to come back if he and UFC president Dana White agreed on the right amount of money.
“What I thought was to fight [Jose] Aldo, the greatest flyweight, bantamweight and featherweight and just call it, but going through the process of what I’m doing and cutting weight, this is the god honest truth, it gets stagnant, man,” Cejudo said in the UFC 249 post-event press conference.
“It makes me want to explore different areas. I’ve been doing this since 11, I’m 33 right now … I want to be on top. I wanted to leave wrestling at the age of 21 because I started to hate the sport. It’s a crazy story but I knew whether I was going to win the Olympic gold medal or not, I knew I was going to leave it because I had given everything to that sport.
“I pretty much retired, [then] three years later they convinced me to come back because of the financial side of it. I ended up coming back but I feel like it’s the same here.
“I’m good, I know what I’m worth … but I don’t even think it’s financial. I’m just so satisfied and want to move on … I look forward to eventually becoming a husband and father,” added the Mexican-American.
Cejudo, who also labelled himself the “King of Cringe” after exaggerating his character in an attempt to save the previously in-danger flyweight division, also talked about his decision to bring the pillows to the UFC 249 weigh-ins and kick them into the crowd.
“What I did up to the fight with Dominick, pulling those pillows up with people’s faces and kicking them? Guys, I gotta show up, I’m looking forward to entertaining,” he said.
“With all due respect, I’m not a BJ Penn, I’m not one of these guys that want to fight forever. I’m a conqueror and I mean that … there’s not much you can do to try to pull me out. It’s my life, at the end of the day.”
