Henry Cejudo’s Historic 2019 Campaign is Likely Done

Henry Cejudo has dominated headlines for much of 2019, but it looks like we won’t be seeing the champ-champ fight again this year.

After taking out Marlon Moraes at UFC 238 to become the promotion’s newest, champ-champ, ESPN has confirmed that Cejudo needs to undergo shoulder surgery. The bantamweight and flyweight champ tore the subscapularis muscle in his left shoulder during his recent bout.

As a result, Cejudo is expected to be sidelined for around four to five months, meaning, it’s very unlikely we’ll see the Olympic Gold Medal wrestler fight again in 2019.

So, this is unfortunate news, and it will be interesting to see what kind of impact this has on Cejudo’s status as the flyweight champ. Cejudo’s last bout at 125 was in January, when he quickly took out T.J. Dillashaw. While Cejudo could in theory defend the title in early 2020, the UFC has been putting up a lot of interim belts lately. Cejudo also didn’t outright commit to defending the 125 belt again, after he won the 135 title earlier this month.