The Career Of Henry Cejudo
Introduction
Henry Cejudo was born on February 9, 1987, and spent his formative years in Los Angeles, California, around ten minutes from the Staples Centre. He is one of seven children raised by a dedicated, 60-hours-per-week working single mother. The family moved around during his formative years, eventually settling in Phoenix, Arizona.
Wrestling Accolades
Cejudo started wrestling early, the sport seemingly in his blood. His older brother, Angel, was a high-level wrestler, compiling a remarkable record in high school of 152-0 and winning four state championships along the way.
Not to be outdone by his sibling, Henry also lifted the state trophy on four occasions during high school, coming first place in ’02, ’03, ’05 and ’06.
Henry then moved to Colorado to focus on making the US Olympic wrestling team, aiming to compete in the 55kg weight category. After winning gold at the US National Championships in both 2006 and 2007, he narrowly missed out in 2008 and had to settle for silver. However, with the goal of representing his country in sight, further success followed, with Cejudo winning the ’06, ’07 and ’08 Pan American championships.
Cejudo would go on to achieve what he had set out to do years prior by competing for the United States in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. At the age of just 21, he won gold to become the youngest American in history (at the time) to achieve such a feat, defeating Japanese star Tomohiro Matsunaga in the final.
After Olympic glory and numerous other gold medals, he had achieved everything there was to accomplish in wrestling. After spending over a decade in the sport, Cejudo decided to wind down his involvement by taking a hiatus from competing. Then, in 2013, Cejudo announced that he would transfer his skills to a new sport, the unforgiving world of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).
Foray Into Mixed Martial Arts
Sponsorship deals followed as Cejudo continued to win fights and elevate his status as a top newcomer in MMA. After competing in Gladiator Challenge and Legacy promotions, his record climbed to 6-0. It was only a matter of time before one of the top MMA organizations in the world would secure his signature.
UFC
Cejudo signed for the premier mixed martial arts organization (the UFC) in 2014 – UFC debut at bantamweight against Dustin Kimura. In his opening five minutes, he showed that there was a lot more to his arsenal than just his wrestling skills. Early in the fight, a right hand floored Kimura before hammer fists rained down on his opponent. Towards the end of the first round, Cejudo threw a right hand, followed by a kick to the face as the buzzer sounded. Rounds two and three were much of the same, and Cejudo won via unanimous decision, taking his record to 7-0 in a performance in which Joe Rogan said on commentary, ‘He looks world-class to me.’ After one fight, Cejudo would drop down to Flyweight.
Cejudo fought (and beat) #10 Ranked Chris Cariaso in his next bout, keeping the fight on the feet, displaying impeccable movement and striking once again as he delivered knees, head kicks, and even a Superman punch. To the uninitiated, it would be hard to convince them that this was an Olympic gold medallist as we had yet to see him showcase his wrestling in the octagon. Another decision win for Cejudo takes him to 8-0.
Cejudo would continue to go the distance as he chased his first UFC knockout against Chico Camus, going to 9-0 in a bout that surprised many due to the fact his opponent had great success in stopping takedowns.
His next bout would be much of the same as we’ve seen in previous fights in the UFC, a dominant display on the feet using a variety of attacks, including an inside elbow to the face and right head kick in the third round, took Cejudo to 10-0 with another decision victory which cemented his status as the number one contender in the division. Cejudo had now secured a title shot against one of the GOATs of the sport, Demetrius Johnson. Despite the size of the challenge ahead, the challenger seemed full of confidence, saying in his post-fight interview that ‘the time to talk was over’, and he was ‘about to fulfil his destiny’.
Flyweight Title Shot
Cejudo got his shot at the Flyweight gold during UFC 197. The step up in class was evident from the first bell, which Cejudo would have expected. What he wouldn’t have expected, though, was to find it nearly impossible to land a clean shot on Demetrius Johnson, as he found it difficult to find his range from the outset.
Johnson found success early on in the fight by mixing up his attacks, much like Cejudo had done in his previous UFC contests. A sweeping leg from Cejudo managed to take ‘Mighty Mouse’ down, but he quickly returned to his feet. Johnson then delivered multiple knees to the body from the clinch position before a left knee to the head stunned Cejudo into retreat. Johnson stalked him, landing a left knee to the abdomen, which floored Cejudo before John Mccarthy ended the bout before Johnson could deliver too much more damage.
On the surface, Henry Cejudo took the defeat well, stating in the post-fight presser that he would not dwell on this (loss) for too long.
Road Back To The Title
A return to winning ways would elude Cejudo as he lost a razor-thin split decision to Benavidez in his next fight. The bout was a fifteen-minute slug-fest with both fighters landing multiple combinations on one another. As with all battles this close, many thought Cejudo was unfortunate to come out on the wrong side of the decision. By the time the final buzzer sounded, it was a ‘pick-em’ kind of fight; both fighters put on a show, and it could’ve gone either way.
Things change quickly in this sport, something Henry Cejudo can undoubtedly attest to. In the blink of an eye, the undefeated, 10-0 Olympic gold medallist went from being about to fight for a title to losing two fights in a row. Mixed Martial Arts is a cruel sport at the best of times – one of the reasons fans love it – and which separates it from other combat sports, such as boxing, is that the best consistently fight the best. One of the consequences of the high-risk, high-reward nature of the UFC is that the MMA community can be too quick at times to label a fighter as being on a ‘skid’. Losses are to be expected in the octagon more frequently than in other combat sports; they are part and parcel of the journey.
How you react to defeats can define the good from the great, and Cejudo’s previous accomplishments proved he had the mental resilience required to bounce back. He would then go on a twelve-month break to return a new fighter and have another crack at becoming UFC champion.
Cejudo’s (now ranked #2) comeback fight would be against Wilson Reis (#5) on September 9, 2017, in Alberta, Canada. Adopting a wider stance and continuing his approach of punches in bunches, Cejudo seemed visibly stronger on his return. His shots landed with more of a snap than in previous fights. A right hand dropped Reis in both the first and third rounds, the latter ultimately leading to the stoppage. Back to winning ways.
Cejudo’s wrestling pedigree would stand him in good stead for his next bout against Sergio Pettis (#4), winning the fight via decision in dominant fashion, paving the way for a second chance to fight for flyweight gold against Demetrius Johnson, who was still the champion and had been for almost six years.
Rematch With ‘Mighty Mouse’
Just twenty seconds into the rematch at UFC 227, disaster struck for Cejudo as a kick from Johnson looked to have sprained his ankle. Cejudo recovered and ended the round well. In the second round, Cejudo was able to gain a takedown and see the rest of the round out on the ground.
Johnson was edging the striking exchanges in the third and got back to his feet on both occasions after a couple of takedowns by Cejudo. ‘Mighty Mouse’ couldn’t escape a takedown in the fourth and spent the second half of the round underneath the challenger, who then gained top position as he landed some blows to close out the round.
In the fifth, Cejudo landed a takedown with 90 seconds to spare, but Johnson quickly rose to his feet for the final minute before both fighters started swinging for the bleachers. Cejudo was on the right side of a split decision (48-47 x2, 47-48) as he dethroned the long-reigning Flyweight champion and prevented him from recording a staggering twelfth-title defence. Upon winning the UFC Flyweight Championship, Cejudo became the first person ever to be an Olympic gold medallist and UFC champion.
New Champion, New Persona
Gone are the days when playing a persona is confined to the world of professional wrestling, and the self-proclaimed ‘King Of Cringe’ gimmick was born prior to Cejudo’s first title defence against TJ Dillashaw.
The fight ended much quicker than people had anticipated. Dillashaw was coming into the fight off the back of two victories over his long-term nemesis, Cody Garbrandt.
Dillashaw landed an impressive high kick before Cejudo shoved Dillashaw to the ground and ended the fight in thirty seconds after a barrage of strikes on his grounded opponent.
Cejudo then turned his attention to becoming ‘champ champ’ by moving up to bantamweight to fight Dillashaw again, this time for his belt. The bout wouldn’t materialize as Dillashaw later got stripped of his belt due to testing positive for a banned substance, so Cejudo would now fight for the vacant title against Marlon Moraes.
During the build-up, the ‘King Of Cringe’ gimmick adopted by the Olympian would go up a notch as he wore a crown to the face-off and kicked a stuffed toy into the crowd. Moraes started the bout strongly at UFC 238, landing several low kicks in the first round and causing Cejudo difficulty establishing his range.
The second round started much like the first but ‘The King of Cringe’ grew into the round, landing some clean right hands. Cejudo ended the round in a Thai clinch, delivering knees to the face of Moraes.
Round three followed the same pattern, and following another flurry of knees from the clinch, Cejudo took Moraes down and rained down elbows. With ten seconds remaining of the round, Mark Goddard had seen enough and stepped in to end the fight. The UFC had a new bantamweight champion, and ‘Triple C’ was born.
With both the bantamweight and flyweight titles needing defending, ‘Triple C’ opted for the former, facing off against Dominic Cruz on May 9, 2020, at UFC 249. Both fighters traded low kicks throughout the first round, but Cejudo got the better of the exchanges, landing a takedown in the process.
Cruz was growing into the fight, and round two was more competitive. With ten seconds left in the round, Cejudo landed a knee to the face as Cruz leaned forwards. He was taken off balance, and Cejudo capitalized, ending the fight by TKO with just two seconds left of the round.
Retirement
In the post-fight interview, it came as a surprise to almost everyone when Cejudo announced he was hanging up the gloves at the age of 33. Many thought it was a gimmick, while some thought it was a play to get paid more money. The longer time went on, it looked more and more unlikely that ‘Triple C’ would be returning soon.
The self-proclaimed ‘King of Cringe’ gimmick continued as Cejudo remained active on social media, regularly trolling other fighters on Twitter and making regular uploads to his Youtube channel. The persona began to wear thin quickly with some people, which could be attributed to the lack of fighting activity. This hypothesis comes from comparing Cejudo with another MMA star who developed a persona around the same time. Colby Covington’s MAGA heel turn was born because he was at risk of being released by the UFC. You could argue that it was a last-ditch attempt to save his job. The biggest difference is that ‘Chaos’ continued to fight and rather shrewdly stayed away from the limelight after his bouts for a prolonged period.
The difference is that Cejudo wasn’t fighting, and some within the MMA community felt the gimmick was unnecessary. People grew frustrated that he would make a lot of noise but not commit to fighting. It could be argued that the gimmick did him a disservice as he became increasingly remembered for his antics, particularly to newer fans, and not for his outstanding accomplishments which have led some to argue that he may be the GOAT.
Return To UFC
By May 2022, it had been two years since Cejudo had fought in the UFC. After finding great success with coaching the likes of the current heavyweight champion, Jon ‘Bones’ Jones’ and the former light-heavyweight champion, Jiří Procházka, people had begun to stop speculating as to who Cejudo would fight next. That was until he appeared, rather unexpectedly, on Daniel Cormier’s YouTube channel in May last year for a conversation with new bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling. He was unsuccessful at UFC 288, losing via decision in a very close fight. Cejudo stated in the following days that he intends on having another crack at the title in future.
One of the greatest combat athletes of all time? Undoubtedly.
‘The ‘ greatest combat athlete of all time?
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