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UFC free fight: Henry Cejudo shows that he’s more than just a wrestler in 2014 debut
Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo quickly showed that he’s not just a wrestler in his UFC debut in 2014.
Cejudo (15-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) faced Dustin Kimura at UFC on FOX 13 in his hometown of Phoenix, and he came out swinging. Cejudo looked sharp and crisp with his combinations, dropping Kimura with a straight right, midway through Round 1.
Rounds 2 and 3 were more of the same, with a bloody and busted Kimura on the back foot, and Cejudo making him pay on the counter, mixing things up to the body. He finally attempted two takedowns late, but never fully committed to them, with Kimura defending well.
It was a dominant performance for Cejudo, who dropped to flyweight in his next fight and notched two more wins, which earned him a title shot against champion Demetrious Johnson. Though he lost to Johnson, followed by a split decision loss to Joseph Benavidez, the setbacks paid dividends for Cejudo.
He came out against Wilson Reis with a reformed striking style, switching to a karate stance. He stopped Reis in the second round in a flawless performance, and hasn’t lost since. In 2018, he got his rematch with Johnson and used his wrestling to dethrone the champion.
That set up a highly-anticipated matchup with UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw, who was dropping down to 125 pounds, looking to capture two titles simultaneously. But Cejudo surprised again, stopping Dillashaw in just 32 seconds to retain his title. After Dillashaw was stripped of his 135-pound title for testing positive for EPO, Cejudo faced Marlon Moraes for the vacant bantamweight title at UFC 238.
After a slow start, Cejudo weathered the storm and turned things around, finishing Moraes in Round 4 to win the bantamweight title. It was the birth of “Triple C.”
Cejudo was scheduled to face Jose Aldo at UFC 250, but due to travel restrictions in Brazil, Aldo was replaced by Dominick Cruz. However, the UFC was forced to pull the plug on all scheduled events, sidelining all fighters indefinitely.
In the meantime, check out Cejudo’s debut victory over Kimura in the video above.
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