"I want to be able to play with my kids" - Henry Cejudo hints at retirement as vision remains compromised from Song Yadong's eyepokes
Former two-weight UFC world champion Henry Cejudo recently appeared in an interview with MMA Junkie reporter Mike Bohn, during which he revealed that he is now contemplating retirement as his vision is still compromised from Song Yadong's eye pokes.
Cejudo's last fight against Song Yadong did not go as planned, as he lost a technical decision after three rounds in a fight that was scheduled for five rounds. During Round 3 of the fight, 'Triple C' suffered nasty eye pokes in both of his eyes but continued fighting for the remainder of the round.
After completion of the round, Cejudo complained about his blurry vision and forced the doctor to step in and call off the fight. At this point in the fight, Yadong was winning on all three judges' scorecards and therefore, secured the technical decision victory.
During the interview with Bohn, Cejudo stated that he is still not back up to his 100% and labeled the injury as the worst one he has ever endured. The 38-year-old also mentioned that he facing trouble with "double-vision" and that his doctor has given him a timeline of one more month for complete recovery:
"It's the worst injury that I've had. I got a second opinion, I actually went to Sean O'Malley's doctor and he said [that] my eye will be good in a month, but then I am like everytime I watch TV or looking down I still see double"
When asked about his future in MMA, Cejudo responded by hinting at potentially hanging up his gloves after one more fight inside the octagon:
"I feel like I never saw the sport of mixed martial art kind of dangerous and I think this could be my last fight. One more and that's it. If I win it back with Song, I'd be happy with that but if it's not Song, I would like anybody that the UFC's willing to give me. I want to be able to play with my kids. I want to be able to not f*ck*ng lose an eye"
Check out Henry Cejudo's words below:
'Triple C' has had a very lustrous career in freestyle wrestling and mixed martial arts. At the age of just 21, Cejudo won Olympic gold for the USA at the Beijing Olympics 2008. He is also a two-weight UFC undisputed champion as he held both the flyweight and bantamweight titles simultaneously in 2018 and 2019. As of today, 'Triple C' remains a top contender in the UFC's bantamweight division.
Dana White is not interested in a Henry Cejudo versus Song Yadong rematch
In the immediate aftermath of their first bout, both Henry Cejudo and Song Yadong appeared interested in an immediate rematch. However, UFC head honcho Dana White quickly shut this idea down during the post-fight press conference by asking a reporter if he would like to see Cejudo and Song run it back:
"Not at all. Not even a little bit. I just don't wanna see it again"
Check out Dana White's comments below (0:40):
With Cejudo now hinting at retirement, it will be interesting to see how the UFC decides to match up 'Triple C' for what could be his final fight inside the octagon.