3 reasons why Henry Cejudo is an all-time great and 2 reasons why he's not

#2. Henry Cejudo is the only Olympic gold medalist to claim UFC gold

Henry Cejudo is the only Olympic gold medallist to win a UFC title

For those who are unaware, Henry Cejudo’s nickname when he initially joined the UFC was ‘The Messenger’. He only changed it to ‘Triple C’ when he claimed the promotion’s bantamweight title in 2019.

‘Triple C’, of course, refers to the fact that Cejudo has held three major titles in his career – the UFC’s bantamweight and flyweight titles, and a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the 2008 Olympic Games.

Incredibly, while there have been a number of Olympic medalists to join the UFC over the years, success at the Olympic level – whether it’s in wrestling, or another sport such as judo – doesn’t always guarantee success in the octagon.

Cejudo is, in fact, the only Olympic gold medalist to claim gold inside the octagon too. He’s also only the second Olympic medalist overall to win a title, following in the footsteps of Ronda Rousey, who claimed a bronze medal in judo at the 2008 games.

With that considered, then, it’s probably safe to say that Cejudo’s overall athletic accomplishments are nearly unmatched in the history of not just the UFC, but MMA in general. That alone should mean he’s considered an all-time great.

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#1. Henry Cejudo is one of the UFC’s only double champions

Henry Cejudo is one of just four fighters to hold two UFC titles simultaneously

The main reason that Henry Cejudo should be considered an all-time great of the UFC is the fact that he’s part of a very exclusive club in the promotion’s history.

Along with Conor McGregor, Daniel Cormier and Amanda Nunes, all of whom would be considered bonafide UFC legends by most parties, Cejudo is one of the only fighters to hold two UFC titles in separate weight classes simultaneously.

‘Triple C’ famously won the promotion’s flyweight title in the summer of 2018, unseating longtime champion Demetrious Johnson, a huge accomplishment in its own right.

He then claimed bantamweight gold a year later, stopping Marlon Moraes for the title after T.J. Dillashaw was forced to vacate following a positive drug test.

When you consider that the UFC has only had a total of 86 different champions across 12 divisions in its near-30 years of existence, even claiming a single title in the octagon is incredibly tricky, let alone claiming two at the same time.

Given that Cejudo is one of only four fighters to achieve this, it’s nearly impossible not to consider him an all-time great.