Former double-champ (flyweight and bantamweight) Henry Cejudo headed back into retirement at UFC 323, taking on young prospect Payton Talbott.
“Triple C,” also an Olympic gold medalist, had announced that the fight would likely be his last, barring an exception or two, in advance of the PPV card. Cejudo had previously retired in 2020, off a win over bantamweight great Dominick Cruz.
Against Talbott, Cejudo was active early, coming out hot, changing stances, firing kicks, and letting his hands go. Talbott circled, worked from the outside, and had the obvious height and size advantage in his favor. Cejudo would grab a leg just inside of two minutes in, but couldn’t complete the takedown. A caught leg a moment or two later didn’t lead to a takedown either; a grazing eye poke halted the action briefly, but Cejudo indicated he was good to continue.
Still, Cejudo struggled to find the takedown, and instead, Talbott landed one off an inside trip! It took a bit, but Cejudo worked his way to the fence and wall-wanked up. He went after Talbott in the final seconds, only to be taken down again!
Early in the second, an off-balance Cejudo, again trying to get in Talbott’s face, was clipped. He went down, got up, and wound up in a scramble, coming out on top for the first time in the fight. That gave Henry Cejudo a potential four minutes to work in Talbott’s guard. He passed into side control, but was soon back into half guard. Talbott rolled, got to his knees, and Cejudo controlled from the back.
Talbott still managed to climb back to his feet, and had over a minute and a half on the clock off the break. Talbott fanned on an uppercut, trailed with a straight, and dug the body. Another uppercut did land, and had a knee trailing it. Another body shot! Cejdo was bloodied, but landed back. Cejudo went down, Talbott firing blow after blow, but Henry got back up! They traded single blows, but Talbott was smiling, versus a bloodied, grimacing Cejudo.
Between rounds, Cejudo’s coach told him he’s the toughest guy he’s known, looking to fire up the ex-champ. Talbott doubled up on his left jab. The pair wound up in a clinch alongside the fence roughly two minutes into the third. A bloodied Cejudo ate a knee, but was able to reverse a takedown, getting on top. Talbott, however, got back up, dragging the smaller “Triple C” with him. A takedown attempt by Cejudo was fought up. 90 seconds on the clock, and Henry Cejudo needed a finish if he wanted to win his retirement fight. It was Talbott, however, unloading and hurting Henry with a body shot. Cejudo survived, but was running low on time. Talbott pointed to the canvas at the end, giving Cejudo a chance to get back in it – and would nearly finish the ex-champ himself, firing a knee and following up with a spinning back kick that missed.
“It’s time. I just showed it,” Cejudo could be heard telling UFC CEO and President Dana White following the fight.
Official Result: Payton Talbott def. Henry Cejudo by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
