[autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] added one of the biggest names to his resume Saturday night, then shocked the mixed martial arts world by announcing that resume is now complete.
The 2008 Olympic wrestling gold medalist, former UFC flyweight champion and current bantamweight titleholder made his first successful defense of the latter belt when he earned a somewhat controversial stoppage over former UFC and WEC champion [autotag]Dominick Cruz[/autotag].
But after earning the TKO at the 4:58 mark of the second round in the co-feature bout of UFC 249 in Jacksonville, Fla., Cejudo (16-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) stunned the MMA world by saying he’s hanging them up.
“I want to walk away. I want to enjoy myself,” Cejudo said during his postfight interview. “Since I was 11 years old, I sacrificed my whole life to get where I’m at today. I’m not going to let nobody take that from me. So I’m retiring tonight.”
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Cejudo got off a a fast start in the opening round. Cruz’s trademark is his shifty movement and footwork, but he also had not fought since Dec. 30, 2016, due to injuries. And Cejudo peppered him throughout the first round with leg kicks, never letting Cruz (23-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) get untracked.
Cruz did a better job in the second round as began to land as the fight became competitive. Then came a fateful, accidental clash of head which opened a cut over Cejudo’s right eye. Following a timeout, Cejudo looked supercharged, and he dropped Cruz with a hellacious knee.
Cejudo threw several lefts to his downed opponent, some of which landed and some didn’t. There’s no doubt Cruz was rocked, but he appeared to be attempting to improve his position when the fight was waved off.
“If I’m staying on the floor, I get it, but I’m working my way up,” Cruz protested, later adding, “This is for a world title, this isn’t a backyard fight.”
With his eighth career stoppage victory, Cejudo has now won six in a row. Cruz has dropped two straight and was finished for the first time at 135 pounds.
The bantamweight title bout was the UFC 249 co-main event at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN/ESPN+ and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 249 results include:
- Henry Cejudo def. Dominick Cruz via TKO (knee and punches) – Round 2, 4;58
- Calvin Kattar def. Jeremy Stephens via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:42
- Greg Hardy def. Yorgan De Castro via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Anthony Pettis def. Donald Cerrone via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Aleksei Oleinik def. Fabricio Werdum via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Carla Esparza def. Michelle Waterson via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 30-27)
- Vicente Luque def. Niko Price via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) – Round 3, 3:37
- Bryce Mitchell def. Charles Rosa via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-24)
- Ryan Spann def. Sam Alvey via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
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