ANAHEIM, CALIF – Sorry ‘Triple C’ you don’t get a second retirement moment.
Merab Dvalishvili scored a gigantic win last night at UFC 298 (Sat., Feb. 17, 2024) when he defeated former two-division champion Henry Cejudo via unanimous decision and scored a Bantamweight title shot from inside Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
Cejudo warned everyone during UFC 298 fight week that if he lost to Dvalishvili, he would retire from mixed martial arts (MMA) again … and he did, but it wasn’t really a point of interest to the broadcast because he wasn’t given any mic time to announce it.
During the UFC 298 post-fight press conference, UFC CEO Dana White explained why Cejudo didn’t get another retirement moment.
“Listen, Merab was in a position where he wouldn’t fight his friend. You know how we love that here when you want to do that,” White said. “So you know, I haven’t been thrilled with Merab, I don’t like that attitude. You fight everybody. You do whatever. Merab went in there tonight, and he beat the former champion Henry Cejudo.
Henry Cejudo already retired, okay. He did the whole drop the gloves thing. Tonight was Merab’s night. Merab went in there and fought the number three guy in the world, a former world champion, and he won easily. Tonight was Merab’s night. If he wants to retire again, he could do that here or somewhere else. You don’t give the mic to Cejudo. Tonight was Merab’s night.”
UFC has been hot and cold with fighter retirements. Sometimes they knock it out of the park like Robbie Lawler, sometimes they drop the ball like Shogun Rua. In this case, they didn’t care.
Cejudo will probably interview with ESPN next week or drop something on his YouTube channel officially announcing his second retirement, and we won’t hear from him again until he gets inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
So, if this is the end of “Triple C”, he wraps up his career with a 16-4 record and two UFC championship belts in two different divisions.
For complete UFC 298 results, coverage, and highlights, click HERE.