Chael Sonnen wonders if Henry Cejudo was looking for a way out at UFC Fight Night 252.
Cejudo (16-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) lost a technical decision to Song Yadong (22-8-1 MMA, 11-3-1 UFC) in Saturday’s main event at Climate Pledge Arena. The fight ended when Cejudo was rendered unable to continue after getting poked in the eye late in Round 3.
Cejudo took the full 5 minutes to try and recover and chose to continue fighting until deciding that he couldn’t see well enough before the fourth round. The fight went to the judges’ scorecards, and Song was awarded the win. Sonnen is surprised with the way Cejudo handled everything.
“I’m essentially accusing possibly the greatest combat athlete of all time of cheating, of faking,” Sonnen said on “Good Guy/Bad Guy” with Cormier. “That is just so unlike Henry. I mean, truly so unlike Henry in the way that he did play it. This is a guy who has walked through fire many times.
“This is a guy who walked through fire at 20 years old to become an Olympic Champion. It didn’t seem like he was willing to walk through fire this night. That was not like the Henry Cejudo that I’ve seen in the past. As fair as I can say it.”
Sonnen thinks Cejudo made a big mistake when he retired in May 2020. “Triple C” retired after retaining his bantamweight title against Dominick Cruz at UFC 249 and was never quite the same when he returned three years later in May 2023. Cejudo now finds himself on a three-fight losing skid.
“Yes, it was one of the most surprising things,” Sonnen said of Cejudo’s retirement. “Listen, are you fighting for money, or are you fighting for championships? Let’s go back to (UFC 249). Henry was fighting for the championship that he brought against Dominick Cruz. He gets a big victory, and now that activated a participation clause within his contract.
“All fighters have a participation clause in their contract, but it only activates if you’re defending a championship. That was Henry’s first defense, COVID was going on, the whole world stopped and tuned in. That was a beautiful payday probably somewhere in the neighborhood of about $2.8 million.”
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