May 26 (UPI) -- Henry Cejudo's retirement became more official when he was removed from the official UFC rankings and his bantamweight title was officially vacated.
The 33-year-old fighter successfully defended the title in a May 9 UFC 249 bout against Dominick Cruz. Cejudo said he wanted to "walk away" from the sport after the fight. Oftentimes, retirements are used as a negotiating tactic in the sport, but Cejudo's appears legitimate after he was taken out of the rankings.
Cejudo doubled down on his retirement by thanking UFC President Dana White on Monday in a tweet.
"Thank you for the awesome experiences uncle Dana White," Cejudo wrote. "I will forever be grateful. Thank you for taking a chance on the sport that people thought would never make it. To all my coaches and fans, it been a wonderful ride. 'Triple C' is out."
The latest official UFC rankings do not list titleholders for flyweight or bantamweight. Cejudo vacated the flightweight title earlier this year when he moved up to bantamweight.
Cejudo (16-2) won his last six fights before he retired. His last loss came in a UFC Fight Night clash on Dec. 3, 2016, against Joseph Benavidez. His only other loss came in the fight before that, when he fell to Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson at UFC 197.
Marlon Moraes (23-6-1) is the top-ranked men's bantamweight fighter. Cejudo beat Moraes June 8 at UFC 238. Deiveson Figueiredo (18-1-0) ranks No. 1 in the men's flyweight division.
UFC Fight Night, headlined by Tyron Woodley and Gilbert Burns, airs Saturday on ESPN+.
