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Brett OkamotoDec 6, 2025, 11:29 PM ET
- Brett Okamoto has reported on mixed martial arts and boxing at ESPN since 2010. He has covered all of the biggest events in combat sports during that time, including in-depth interviews and features with names such as Dana White, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Conor McGregor, Nate Diaz, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Georges St-Pierre. He was also a producer on the 30 for 30 film: "Chuck and Tito," which looked back at the careers and rivalry of Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. He lives in Las Vegas, and is an avid, below-average golfer in his spare time.
LAS VEGAS -- Henry Cejudo, one of the most decorated athletes in combat sports history, retired from MMA for the second time Saturday. This time, it's likely to be permanent.
Cejudo (16-6) announced his retirement after a unanimous decision loss to Payton Talbott (11-1) at UFC 323 at T-Mobile Arena. All three judges scored it 30-27 for Talbott.
Cejudo, 38, said before the bout that this would be his last fight, and he made good on that promise. Cejudo, a former two-weight champion, retired from MMA as the bantamweight champion in 2020, but returned three years later. He went 0-4 in four appearances since his return.
"Payton is the future, man," Cejudo said. "I was saying to him after the fight, come over and let's keep training. I want to keep mentoring him. But f---, this is the end [for me]."
Although Cejudo lost, he gave a spirited effort against Talbott, who is a highly touted 27-year-old prospect. Talbott bloodied Cejudo's face in the second round, pummeled him with shots to the body and even took down Cejudo, a world-class wrestler, multiple times. Despite the damage, Cejudo fought back and drew a positive response from the crowd for it.
Cejudo's longtime coach, Santino Defranco of Fight Ready MMA, also announced his retirement from coaching MMA.
A former Olympic gold medalist in wrestling, Cejudo won the UFC's flyweight championship in 2018 by defeating all-time great Demetrious Johnson by split decision. Cejudo moved up to bantamweight and won the vacant belt in 2018 with a TKO finish over Marlon Moraes. Cejudo defended the belt once against another all-time great ,Dominick Cruz, before walking away from the Octagon for the first time in 2020.
