Former two-division champion Henry Cejudo believes it might be time to retire following his loss to Yadong Song at UFC Seattle.
During his five-round battle with Song, Cejudo suffered an eye poke that inadvertently led to his defeat. The poke compromised his vision in the octagon, preventing him from continuing to the next round. His opponent was never penalized for the incident, and Cejudo appears to still be dealing with the consequences.
The fighter revealed that he has been battling vision problems for the past two months and may be forced to retire to prevent further damage to his eyesight.
“I never really saw the sport of mixed martial arts as dangerous,” Cejudo said. “I’ve been talking to my wife, and I think this could potentially be my last fight. One more, and that’s it. If I can run it back with Song, I would be happy with that. But if it’s not Song, I would take anybody the UFC is willing to give me.
“I want to be able to play with my kids. I want to be able to not f*cking lose an eye. That’s how I’m feeling right now, to be quite honest with you.”
“I sound like a crybaby, but it’s the worst injury that I’ve had,” Cejudo told *MMA Junkie.* “I got a second opinion. I actually went to [Sean O’Malley’s] doctor—one of them—and he said my eye would be good in a month. But every time I watch TV or look down, I still see double.
“It’s been a month. It was just a little pinkie that went inside, and I’m still not 100 percent. The doctor said it’s looking like another month. The Korean Zombie had the same symptoms, and that was the reason he had to retire. I’m seeing double. When I move my eye a certain way, I see two feet.”
Cejudo is eager to step into the octagon one more time, if possible, with plans for a retirement fight. However, it all depends on the state of his eye.
“I don’t mind losing, but I don’t want to leave getting hit in my freaking eyeball,” Cejudo said. “It just can’t end like that. And I’m grateful. I love Dana [White] and everybody. This isn’t a shot at the UFC. They’ve given me a platform to really help out my family and put myself in a great position to set up my future. But at the same time, my health is No. 1 above everything.”
“I’m not sure what the UFC has planned,” Cejudo added. “I definitely do want to fight sometime in the fall. Let my eye heal—they said another 30 days. But if it doesn’t get better, I just don’t know when I’ll be back. I think this is the last one, and that’s all she wrote.”
Cejudo first retired in 2020 following a successful bantamweight title defense against Dominick Cruz at UFC 249. He returned in May 2023 to challenge bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288 but suffered defeat after a five round slugfest.
