“I just don’t want to see it again.” Following the aftermath of Henry Cejudo vs. Song Yadong at UFC Seattle, Dana White was convinced that he had seen enough. Even though the bout ended because of the damaging eyepokes that compromised the Olympian’s vision in the third round, Yadong was already higher on the scoreboard. Well, it was true that White didn’t really blame Cejudo for being unable to continue. 

But where exactly has that left ‘Triple C’ in the fighting realm? Who should he fight to come out of his 3-fight losing streak and redeem himself? Or should he take a look at retirement as the only option for him? Let’s find out!

1. Make Henry Cejudo vs. Petr Yan a reality

Cejudo vs. Petr Yan is the perfect wrestler vs. striker matchup, with ‘Triple C’ as the Olympic-level wrestler and ‘No Mercy’ as the exceptional boxer. What makes this exciting is that both of them are former bantamweight champions who are trying to get the championship title back. But here’s the catch. While Cejudo couldn’t continue his fight against Yadong, Yan managed to defeat the Chinese prospect via a unanimous decision at UFC 299. However, both of them were unable to secure a win against Aljamain Sterling and Merab Dvalishvili. 

To add some spice to their matchup, Henry Cejudo and Petr Yan had already exchanged some heated words over the internet. Back in 2020, before Yan’s first title defense against Aljamain Sterling, ‘Triple C’ dissed him because his previous 2 wins were against Jose Aldo and Urijah Faber. He claimed, “Your last 2 wins were vs Aldo and Faber. You might as well just fought Alzheimers.” And then in 2022, when Yan was set for a rematch against Sterling, he made a tweet about getting Cejudo and Sean O’Malley in his corner. Well, it wasn’t a request for advice, but for water and ice. Of course, this didn’t sit well with Cejudo and he lashed back at the Russian. He tweeted, “Sorry buddy I ain’t nobody’s Waterboy! Between your knees and O’Malley’s steroids… it’s just too much illegal activity for me to be involved in.” 

And now, defeating the #2 bantamweight prospect would ensure that Cejudo still deserves a place in the top 10 ranks. Following that, we can even expect the Olympian to go up for one more shot at the bantamweight championship title. And if he fails, maybe he should call it quits and hang up his gloves for good. But Yan isn’t the only possible opponent for Cejudo. We can also expect him to go up against the #6 bantamweight contender, Marlon Vera.

2. Consider a fight against Marlon Vera

Just like the fight against Yan, Cejudo vs. Vera would also be a wrestler vs. striker bout. The clash of their fighting styles would certainly make the fight interesting. And a victory would propel both of them to higher levels in the UFC athlete rankings. It would be the perfect time for the fighters to give the fans what they expected back in 2023. Well, the duo were slated to fight each other at UFC 292, but a shoulder injury forced Cejudo out of the bout. 

On top of that, ‘Chito’ and ‘Triple C’ had engaged in a battle of words with X-rated quotes flying from either side. But before the pullout, Cejudo dissed Vera’s takedown defense against Cory Sandhagen at UFC San Antonio. Needless to say, Cejudo had already found loopholes in Vera’s style and was ready to exploit them, had he not gotten injured. But if the bout against Vera or Yan doesn’t happen, there’s only one path for the Olympic medalist to tread.

3. Opt for retirement 

Cejudo is potentially losing his competitive edge. After all, he has already lost 3 back-to-back fights against Sterling, Merab Dvalishvili, and now Yadong. To add to that, he is nearing the age of 40, which has already reduced his physical performance and natural recovery speed. His battles with injuries are also a concern that we can’t overlook. He withdrew from his fight with Sergio Pettis in 2017. He had his ankle compromised at UFC 238 against Marlon Moraes, although he did manage to win that bout. This fight also saw him injure his shoulder, leaving him out of action for the remainder of 2019. And now, he had his vision troubled at UFC Seattle with eyepokes. 

Despite the declining performance, Cejudo continued to compete. But he knew that the fight against the Chinese star was probably the last time he’d get a chance to fight for a title shot. Talking to the UFC before the bout against Yadong, he said, “This is my last chance of going for the title, and it’s all or nothing,” which might mean that he’s already on the path to retirement. But he had already hinted at retirement before UFC 298, claiming that it was the only option if he lost against ‘The Machine’. 

What do you think ‘Triple C’ should do? Is there any other fighter that he must go up against, or is retirement his only option? Let us know what you think in the debate section below.