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Henry Cejudo’s incredible martial arts career ended on a losing note.
The Olympic gold medalist and former two-weight UFC champion lost a unanimous decision to Peyton Talbot on the main card of UFC 323 in the final fight of his mixed martial arts career in Las Vegas on Saturday.
The 38-year-old American confirmed in the days leading up to the event that it would be the final fight of his career before hanging up his gloves for good.
“I think I’ve done everything at a high level since I was 11 years old,” Cejudo said earlier in the week. “I’m ready to move on too. I have two kids who want to play with their dad 24/7.”
Cejudo was outscored 134-60 in key strikes and was knocked down three times, with all three judges awarding Talbot all rounds.
The UFC, knowing it was Cejudo’s farewell bout, played a prepared video montage on the broadcast at T-Mobile Arena and in celebration of his UFC career.
Cejudo won an Olympic gold medal in freestyle wrestling in Beijing in 2008, in the 55-kilogram division before finally entering MMA in 2013.
He started 6-0 before making his UFC debut less than two years after making his professional debut. Cejudo won his first four UFC fights en route to a title shot 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 Beniodez in his next outing, Cejudo went on a long streak that made him the seventh longest winning streak in UFC history.
Wilson won the race and Sergio Pettis earned him another shot against Johnson, and Cejudo became the 125-pound champion with a hard-fought split decision victory at UFC 227 in 2018.
Cejudo defended his flyweight title with a 32-second TKO victory over TJ Dillashaw before announcing he was moving up to 135 pounds to pursue the bantamweight title, which he won in 2019 over Marlon Morris. He defended his bantamweight belt in 2019, defeating the former champion by TKO 0 in 2 overs 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 that decision. He lost a split decision to Aljamin Sterling in his 2023 title fight, then Mirab Dolshvili in his lone 2024 appearance.
His most recent appearance before UFC 323 ended in unfortunate circumstances when he lost a technical decision to Jit Yedong in February, unable to continue in Cejudo after an eye transplant. The bout was abandoned after three rounds in the scheduled five rounder.
The unflappable Talbott got the better of Cejudo in almost every aspect of their matchup and after the fight Cejudo confirmed it was time to call it a career.
Despite ending his career on a losing streak, Cejudo is considered one of the most successful combat sportsmen of his generation and will likely one day find himself in the UFC Hall of Fame.
