Henry Cejudo was brutally KO’d by Demetrious Johnson in first UFC title fight before later glory
Henry Cejudo will be remembered as one of the best flyweight and bantamweight fighters of all time – but things didn’t always go his way in the UFC.
‘Triple C’ returns from his three-year retirement when he takes on 135lb champion Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288 in New Jersey on Saturday night.
The Olympic gold medallist is hoping to become a three-time UFC champion after suffering a disastrous loss in his first title bout against Demetrious Johnson in 2016.
Cejudo became one of the brightest prospects in the sport following his transition from wrestling to MMA and was signed by the UFC after quickly amassing a 6-0 record.
The 36-year-old picked up four consecutive decision wins before being pushed into a title shot against ‘Mighty Mouse’ who was bereft of contenders worthy of challenging for his flyweight belt.
However, it quickly became clear Cejudo was not ready to be mixing it with the 125lb great when they went toe-to-toe at UFC 197.
Johnson managed to get up when the elite-level wrestler took him to the floor early and he subsequently scored with several big knees to the body of his opponent.
Cejudo was then badly wobbled when the champion switched his knee attack to the head and stumbled backward before being dropped with a straight punch.
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The 10-0 prospect ate a body shot on his way to the floor and curled into a ball as veteran referee John McCarthy stepped in to wave off the fight after less than three minutes of round one.
Fuelled by a desire to be better, Cejudo went away and worked to improve his striking. It paid off, though, not immediately as suffered a controversial decision defeat to Joseph Benavidez in his return bout.
The Mexican-American won back-to-back fights over top contenders before being given another shot at Johnson who had defended his title a record-setting 11 times ahead of UFC 227 in 2018.
Cejudo showed the vast improvements he’d made in just two years, as he matched the long-time 125lb king over five rounds and ultimately walked away with a split decision victory.
A tiebreaker trilogy bout was expected to take place, but Johnson opted to leave the UFC and sign with ONE Championship – the biggest MMA promotion in Asia.
Cejudo defended his title by beating UFC bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw, who was later banned and stripped of his belt for using performance-enhancing drugs ahead of his first-round TKO loss in January 2019.
‘The King of Cringe’ stepped up to claim the strap made vacant by Dillashaw when he beat Marlon Moraes before defending it against 135lb legend Dominick Cruz and retiring at UFC 249 in 2020.
Three years later, Cejudo is back and determined to recapture his title.
If victorious, he plans to move up to featherweight to try and become the first three-weight UFC champion by beating 145lb king Alexander Volkoanovski.