Henry Cejudo makes shock RETIREMENT from UFC in Octagon following controversial win over legend Dominick Cruz
HENRY CEJUDO cemented his place as undisputed king of the bantamweights after beating all-time great Dominick Cruz - before announcing plans to walk away from the sport.
Cruz, the UFC's inaugural 135lb champion, stepped in on late notice to replace Jose Aldo and dared Cejudo to settle who is the division's greatest.
Despite suffering a cut after a clash of heads, Cejudo reacted by landing a knee and dropping Cruz before the ref stopped the fight - leading to protest from the challenger.
After the win, the champion announced a shock retirement, as he said: “I am ruthless, I may be cringey and corny but nobody has my resume, I am the best combat athlete in history.
“I am retiring tonight, at 33 I am happy with my career, Dana White is the man and I am thankful. But Triple C is out.”
Cruz, previously considered the best bantamweight of all time, attempted to come back after four years out the cage and dethrone Cejudo, a former two-weight champion with an Olympic gold medal in wrestling.
The 35-year-old challenger implemented his trademark footwork from the opening bell, but the champion had an answer for it with lethal leg kicks, slowing down Cruz's movement.
Cejudo continued the leg attacks throughout the first round, and even scored a takedown, despite Cruz instantly getting to his feet.
Going into the second round, Cruz began to find his rhythm and landed his own leg kicks, also finding success in his boxing.
Cejudo was still on the front foot, and scoring with leg attacks, but the challenger was more confident in his counter punching.
Triple C - a name earned for his two UFC and Olympic championships - faced adversity just before the end of round two after a clash of heads opened up a cut on his forehead.
After being given the green light to continue fighting by the cageside doctor, Cejudo launched an inspired attack and dropped Cruz with a perfectly executed knee.
Cruz slumped to the deck as Cejudo landed clean strikes on his downed opponent.
But the challenger was beginning to work his to defending Cejudo's attack when the fight was called off.
A distraught Cruz said afterwards: “I’m not happy with the stoppage obviously.
“I was definitely still aware of what was going on. If I’m standing up to my feet, I’m in the fight.
"I got no excuses. I shouldn’t have gotten caught with that knee the way that I got caught.”
Cejudo had called for fights against Jose Aldo and featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski in the build up to facing Cruz.
But his shock retirement comes as he reveals plans to instead focus on building a family with his actress partner Amanda Dallago Chaves.
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Cejudo said: "I have my girl back home. I eventually want to start a family.
"Since I was 11 years old, I’ve sacrificed my whole life to get where I’m at today.
"I’m not going to let nobody take that from me so I’m retiring tonight."
