He used his slick inside trip maneuver to take Johnson down numerous times and neutralize him. He was continually coming forward and was on the offensive while Johnson kept retreating toward the edge of the cage.Ĭejudo was superb with his strikes and kicks, but it was his wrestling ability that was the difference. I watched video of the entire fight again Sunday morning and Cejudo looked to me like the clear winner despite badly rolling his ankle in the early moments of the bout.Ĭejudo controlled the center of the cage throughout the five rounds, and you could make a case that he won every round. 2 behind Daniel Cormier entering Saturday's fight.Ĭejudo won a split decision over Johnson in a fight that many MMA observers felt could've gone either way. Johnson, nicknamed "Mighty Mouse," had been ranked as the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world at that time. He lacked experience in the Octagon at that point and he was exposed by a highly skilled fighter. He ended Johnson's nearly six-year reign as UFC world champion.Ĭejudo was overmatched, overpowered and overwhelmed when he met Johnson for the UFC 125-pound title in April 2016. Henry Cejudo with his Olympic gold medal in 2008 (Photo/John Sachs, )Īfter knocking off the seemingly unbeatable Demetrious Johnson to win the UFC flyweight title Saturday night in Los Angeles, Cejudo finally had reached his goal of becoming a world champion. It wasn't quite the way he envisioned it, but 10 years to the month after his surprising Olympic triumph Cejudo proved his doubters wrong. "I am going to be an Olympic and world champion," he said matter-of-factly. When I asked him what his goals were, he looked me straight in the eyes without hesitation and told me exactly what he believed. He also had a great sense of humor with an infectious laugh. He was intelligent, charismatic, articulate and genuine.
Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, he immediately caught my attention. When I sat down to interview him for the first time in the spring of 2006 at the U.S.
He also was extremely advanced as a wrestler for someone his age. You could sense there was something very real about his high level of confidence. He was brash, cocky and not shy about sharing his aspirations.īut something about Cejudo, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist who won a UFC world title Saturday night, was different.
Like many elite young wrestlers, Cejudo had an abundance of lofty goals and dreams he wanted to achieve on the wrestling mat. He was still a teenager who was in his senior year in high school. The first time I met Henry Cejudo I knew right away that he was something special. Henry Cejudo won an Olympic gold medal at the age of 21 and a UFC title at the age of 31 (Left Photo/John Sachs, )
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