Daniel Cormier: Henry Cejudo’s retirement mistake has come back to haunt him

UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier believes Henry Cejudo made a mistake with his initial retirement back in 2020.

After ending the record-setting UFC Flyweight Championship reign of Demetrious Johnson, Cejudo went on to stop TJ Dillashaw in the first round to capture the bantamweight gold, becoming a “champ-champ” in the process. Cejudo followed that up with a second-round TKO finish over Dominick Cruz to successfully defend the 135-pound title.

Following the win over Cruz, “Triple C” shockingly announced his retirement from pro MMA competition, only to return three years later in a losing effort against Aljamain Sterling. Cejudo was once on top of the mountain in the UFC, but he’s gone 0-3 since coming out of retirement.

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Cormier on Cejudo’s Misfortunate Since Unretiring

During a recent edition of ESPN’s “Good Guy/Bad Guy,” Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen reflected on Henry Cejudo’s decision to retire back in 2020 before deciding to return to the Octagon. Cormier thinks the move has come back to haunt “Triple C.”

“It felt like a money play if we’re calling it a spade a spade,” Cormier said. “It was like, ‘I’m the double champ, I just beat Dominick Cruz. Pay me more,’ and Dana was calm, cool, and collected because not many 135-pounders have to be paid more. It’s just the truth. Sean O’Malley, yeah you got to pay a guy like that because he feels like he can move the needle, but not all 135-pounders have to get paid.

“It felt like Henry made a big play and I think the big play backfired, man, because he got rid of the best years of his career.”

Sonnen agreed with Cormier and mentioned that the money Cejudo made as a defending champion was far greater than the position he finds himself in now. Sonnen said that Cejudo is essentially fighting to get back to the spot he had pre-retirement.

Prior to his first retirement, Cejudo was riding a six-fight winning streak. He has now dropped fights against Aljamain Sterling, Merab Dvalishvili, and Song Yadong.