It has been three days (Sat., Feb. 22, 2025) since former two-division Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champion Henry Cejudo was unable to continue in the UFC Seattle main event after he was poked in the eye by Song Yadong inside Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Wash., and there have been many conversations about ending the fights.
Was “Triple C” looking for a no-contest? Was he milking it too much? Did he quit?
Coming from the former champ himself, he wanted to finish the fight but did not want to get hurt because he legit could not see.
According to three-time UFC title challenger turned podcaster Chael Sonnen, Cejudo didn’t want to “walk through the fire.”
“This is tough. I’m essentially accusing possibly the greatest combat athlete of all time of cheating, of faking,” Sonnen said on his ESPN show Good Guy/Bad Guy. “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 that night.”
“I can’t go any further; only he would know how bad it hurt,” Sonnen concluded. “That was not like the Henry Cejudo that I’ve seen in the past. That’s as fair as I can say it.”
It’s a fair statement, mainly because Cejudo fought through a torn rotator cuff that he suffered in the first round of his battle with Marlon Morales at UFC 238. He also injured his ankle before that fight and during the fight (watch highlights).
“Triple C” also fought Merab Dvalishvili with a torn groin.
Is a nasty eye poke and inability to see correctly as bad as a destroyed rotator cuff or torn groin?
Only Cejudo or a doctor can provide that answer.
For much more on the UFC Seattle main event, click here.
