New Friends Mike Tyson and Henry Cejudo Swap Retirement Stories
Henry Cejudo is not only an Olympic gold medalist, but he’s also a UFC champ in two weight classes. These accomplishments, as well as his victories against other high-level opponents, have earned him a spot at the top of the UFC. But now, despite winning his last fight, Henry Cejudo has retired from the sport. Cejudo recently spoke to Mike Tyson about retirement.
A look at Henry Cejudo’s retirement
Cejudo started the sport later in his life than many others do, as he was an Olympic-level wrestler first and foremost. However, he quickly climbed the ranks and claimed gold.
Then, taking a cue from Conor McGregor, he went after a belt in another weight class, and he won it. His last fight was a title defense against the former UFC champion, Dominick Cruz, someone whom many consider to be one of the best. Cejudo knocked Cruz out in the second round.
With this string of victories behind him, he decided to lay down his gloves and retire at the top of the world. As he said in his post-fight speech, he’s retiring at the relatively young age of 33 because he made a lot of sacrifices to get to where he is today, and he’s been doing that since he was 11 years old. While some fans speculated that he was just kidding, the UFC did remove him from its rankings a few days later, according to MMAJunkie.
Mike Tyson and Henry Cejudo hang out in Florida
Cejudo was actually on Tyson’s podcast, Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson last year, but, with his UFC career seemingly behind him, he’s been having fun and hanging out with ‘Iron Mike’ in Florida. It’s not clear whether they were hanging out for business or for pleasure, but they did end up doing some activities together.
One of those activities included participating in a wrestling show. ESPN reported that Tyson walked out and confronted Chris Jericho at an AEW show in Florida.
Tyson wasn’t alone, and he had Cejudo as well as another former UFC champion, Vitor Belfort, by his side. This could just be something fun that the three men wanted to do, or it could be a hint at what Cejudo wants to do after the UFC.
That said, the former champs undoubtedly talked to one another about their retirements, since they both went about it differently. Cejudo retired after beating a great fighter in Cruz, while Tyson retired after suffering two losses in a row. Here’s a look at what the two could be saying to one another.
What Mike Tyson could teach Henry Cejudo
‘Iron Mike’ lost his heavyweight titles in 1996, and he never won them back. After those losses to Evander Holyfield, his career just went on a slow decline up until he finally gave up. In 2004, he got knocked out by a journeyman, and a year later, he was so frustrated by his opponent that he retired on the spot.
Tyson could be telling Cejudo about how his career, like the careers of many other fighters, went on for too long, and eventually, they just didn’t have it in them anymore. Cejudo is much younger than Tyson was when he retired, as Tyson was almost 39 years old when he laid down his gloves.
If Cejudo decides to remain retired, like Tyson could possibly be telling him to, then he would’ve retired from the sport without taking too much damage.
Many of the best boxers and fighters in the world eventually develop some brain problems after they retire. This happened to Muhammad Ali, and it may happen to Tyson, too. But, since Cejudo retired without taking too much damage, then he may have saved himself from that fate. This could be a good lesson for Tyson to teach the former UFC champ.
