Future UFC Hall of Famer officially removed from roster following second retirement

Olympic gold medalist and former two-division UFC titleholder Henry Cejudo has officially been removed from the UFC roster following his final fight.

Cejudo famously retired for the first time after defending the UFC bantamweight belt against Dominick Cruz in 2020, but he returned three years later to challenge Aljaimain Sterling in the main event of UFC 288 and dropped a split decision.

“Triple C” made it clear ahead of his UFC 323 meeting with Payton Talbott that the matchup would be his last fight, and the UFC Roster Watch account confirmed that Cejudo has been removed from the UFC roster after losing a unanimous decision to Talbott in early December.

Henry Cejudo Officially Exits UFC Roster Following Second Retirement

After winning a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, Cejudo made the jump to MMA in 2013 and quickly compiled a 5-0 record in his first year as a professional fighter.

Henry Cejudo is declared the winner by decision and is the new Flyweight champion against Demetrious Johnson during UFC 227. — Henry Cejudo is declared the winner by decision and is the new Flyweight champion against Demetrious Johnson during UFC 227 at Staples Center. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

One more win in early 2014 was enough to earn Cejudo an invitation to the UFC, where he improved his MMA record to 10-0 and earned a shot at all-time flyweight great Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson at UFC 197. The Olympian was stopped in the opening round of his first UFC title fight before he closed out the year with another loss to Joseph Benavidez, but those would be the final losses he suffered before retiring for the first time.

Back-to-back wins secured Cejudo a rematch with “Mighty Mouse” at UFC 227, where he ended Johnson’s incredible championship reign with a split decision victory. Cejudo defended the flyweight belt once with a 32-second knockout of T.J. Dillashaw before he achieved double-champ status with another finish of Marlon Moraes in a fight for the promotion’s vacant bantamweight title.

Henry Cejudo (red gloves) fights Payton Talbott (blue gloves) during UFC 323 at T-Mobile Arena. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

The aforementioned bantamweight title defense against Cruz and preceded Cejudo’s first retirement, and in between his losses to Sterling and Talbott the 38-year-old also came up short against Song Yadong and recently-dethroned bantamweight king Merab Dvalishvili.

Mohammad Yahya Also Removed From UFC Roster After 0-3 Run

Though not as high-profile as the former two-division UFC champion's removal, the UFC Roster Watch account reports that lightweight fighter Mohammad Yahya has also been removed from the promotion’s roster.

A former champion in UAE Warriors, Yahya put together a 12-3 professional record and defended his UAE Warriors belt twice before joining the UFC in late 2023. Matched up with Trevor Peek at UFC 294, Yahya’s five-fight win streak came to an end when Peek defeated him via unanimous decision.

Mohammad Yahya fights Trevor Peek during his UFC debut. | (Craig Kidwell/USA TODAY Sports)

“The UAE Warrior” returned in 2024 and was stopped by Kauê Fernandes in the first round, and last July he lost to Steven Nguyen via doctor’s stoppage in what turned out to be his final UFC bout.

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