Injury forces out Deen The Great as Cejudo faces undefeated actor-boxer Walton on boxing debut

Henry Cejudo will face undefeated MVP boxer Wanna Walton on his boxing debut after original opponent Deen The Great was forced out through injury. Misfits Boxing confirmed the change on Tuesday, with the event still scheduled for 26 September in Miami.

Walton, 20, is perhaps better known as an actor — he has appeared in Euphoria and The Umbrella Academy — but he has built a credible early record under Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions banner. He opened his boxing career with a first-round knockout of Moises Guzman Almonte and currently sits at 3-0-1.

MVP executive Nakisa Bidarian framed the late switch as a major opportunity for his fighter. “Misfits offered us a significant financial guarantee for Wanna to step in on short notice against Henry Cejudo, an Olympic gold medallist and two-division UFC champion,” Bidarian said in the official release. “It’s a tremendous opportunity for Wanna to show the world why you don’t play boxing and I am confident he will shine bright as the star he is and defeat a UFC great.”

Cejudo, for his part, claimed he had anticipated the change. “I knew all along that Dean The Bitch would back out, and so I am not surprised he has done,” Cejudo said. “But I have a new opponent now, who thinks he’s a fighter, but Wanna will be playing another robot by the time I’m done with him.”

At 39, Cejudo brings one of the most decorated combat sports résumés in history to his boxing debut. He won Olympic gold in freestyle wrestling at the 2008 Beijing Games before transitioning to MMA, where he captured UFC titles at both flyweight (125 lbs) and bantamweight (135 lbs). He retired in 2020, attempted a comeback in 2023, went winless in four MMA bouts, and retired again earlier in 2025.

More recently, Cejudo has returned to competition on the mats through RAF, defeating fellow UFC veteran Urijah Faber on debut and then splitting a two-match series with Merab Dvalishvili. After Dvalishvili claimed a comeback win at RAF Georgia, Cejudo settled the score this past August, submitting him via pinfall in just 36 seconds.

The Misfits event on 26 September will mark Cejudo’s first appearance in a boxing ring.