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This weekend marks the return of Henry Cejudo to the UFC. The former flyweight and bantamweight champion will take on Aljamain Sterling for the 135lbs title in the headliner of UFC 288.
Henry Cejudo is already considered a legend of the octagon, but which fights gave ‘Triple C’ this status?
With arguably the biggest fight of his career coming up this weekend, it’s well worth looking back at the 2008 Olympic gold medallist’s UFC career.
Here are the five fights that turned Henry Cejudo into a UFC legend.
#5. Henry Cejudo vs. Joseph Benavidez – The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale (2016)
When Henry Cejudo arrived in the UFC in 2014, he was immediately pegged as a future flyweight title contender thanks to his background as an Olympic gold medallist.
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However, he largely flattered to deceive in his first few trips to the octagon. He won his first four bouts, but didn’t finish any of his foes, and clearly relied heavily on his wrestling.
Still, in 2016 he was elevated into a fight with flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson, and unsurprisingly, came up short. ‘Triple C’ found himself TKO’d in the first round after largely failing to get any offense going.
Cejudo took some time to regroup from what was his first career loss, and found himself coaching on the 24th season of The Ultimate Fighter against a fellow Johnson victim, Joseph Benavidez.
It was his fight with Benavidez that really marked him out as more than a wrestler converting into MMA. Sure, Cejudo ended up losing a controversial decision across three rounds, but it was a point deduction in the first round that really cost him.
More to the point, he went toe-to-toe with the former title challenger on the feet and showed dramatic improvements in his stand-up. Suddenly, ‘Triple C’ was no longer a one-dimensional fighter – he looked like one of the best flyweights on the planet.
Cejudo’s defeat to Johnson seemed to signal that he wasn’t cut out for the top of the UFC, but his loss to Benavidez was clear proof otherwise. It was his first step towards becoming a legend.
#4. Henry Cejudo vs. Demetrious Johnson – UFC 227 (2018)
Following his loss to Joseph Benavidez, Henry Cejudo delivered two straight wins, and picked up the first finish of his UFC career too, stopping Wilson Reis.
Those wins were enough to grant him a second shot at Demetrious Johnson’s flyweight title, and this time, ‘Triple C’ seemed determined to put things right.
At UFC 227 in the summer of 2018, the two rivals faced off in their rematch, and early on, things didn’t seem to be going Cejudo’s way.
A series of low kicks hurt him in the first round, leaving him seemingly unable to stand correctly. The announcers even suspected some kind of serious foot injury and figured the fight wouldn’t go on much longer.
Cejudo gutted it out, though, and in the second round, he secured his first takedown of ‘Mighty Mouse’. It was a sign that the Olympian was still in the fight, and he clearly took the stanza on the scorecards.
In the end, the fight ended up going the distance, and it was a hugely difficult one to score. Johnson appeared to have rounds one and three in the bag, while Cejudo’s takedowns won him the second and fourth.
The fifth round seemed to be the key, and despite Johnson perhaps landing the better shots, it was ‘Triple C’ who pushed the pace with his striking and managed to land a takedown.
In one of the more controversial decisions in recent years, Cejudo was awarded a split decision win, stunning some observers. The win made him the only man to ever defeat Johnson in the UFC at 125lbs, and gave him his first taste of gold too.
Nobody really knew it at the time, but it was also the victory that put him on the path to legendary status.
#3. Henry Cejudo vs. TJ Dillashaw – UFC Fight Night 143 (2019)
By the time that Henry Cejudo claimed the UFC flyweight title in 2018, the division was in a bit of trouble.
The promotion didn’t seem to be getting behind it, cutting a number of the top 125lbers from the roster, and when ‘Triple C’ had his first title defense lined up against bantamweight king TJ Dillashaw, the signs seemed ominous.
Dillashaw claimed that he was being sent to “kill the division”, and with a strong wrestling background as well as a phenomenal kickboxing game, he looked like a horrible match for Cejudo on paper.
However, the Olympian simply seemed more driven than ever before, and came into the bout with an unmatched level of fury.
In the headline fight of the first UFC show on ESPN, ‘Triple C’ needed just 32 seconds to take a depleted-looking Dillashaw out. After hurting him with a head kick and a flurry of punches, the bantamweight champ went down and simply couldn’t recover.
It was a stunning performance from Cejudo, who answered any questions around his credibility as a champion in style. When it later emerged that Dillashaw had been using the banned substance EPO in his preparation for the fight, Cejudo’s win only seemed more impressive.
#2. Henry Cejudo vs. Marlon Moraes – UFC 238 (2019)
Following his win over TJ Dillashaw, many fans wondered what Henry Cejudo would do next, particularly as many of the UFC’s top flyweights had been axed from the roster.
However, in the end, his path was an obvious one. With Dillashaw suspended by USADA following a positive test for EPO, the bantamweight title was suddenly vacant.
Cejudo set his sights on becoming the UFC’s fourth simultaneous double champion, but to do so, he had to face his toughest challenge yet.
Marlon Moraes had come into the UFC with a terrifying reputation, and after being edged in his debut, he’d ripped through four opponents to cement himself as a top contender. Aljamain Sterling, Jimmie Rivera and Raphael Assuncao hadn’t even lasted a combined five minutes with ‘Magic’.
He met ‘Triple C’ in the headliner of UFC 238, and the fans in attendance were in for a true classic.
The first round saw Moraes largely dominate proceedings, particularly with his savage low kicks and flurries of punches. Cejudo simply looked too small to reach the Brazilian, who seemed to be coasting to a win.
‘Triple C’ attempted to turn things around in the second round by walking Moraes down, swinging heavy punches, and while he was taken off his feet by a low kick at one point, when the round ended, it was clear which way the momentum was going.
Sure enough, Cejudo took Moraes down relatively early in the third after abusing him in the clinch, and with the Brazilian looking tired, ‘Triple C’ demolished him with a series of elbows and punches to secure a stoppage.
It was a dramatic turnaround from the Olympian, who proved that he could be just as effective at 135lbs as he was at 125lbs. More importantly, by becoming a simultaneous double champ, he cemented himself into UFC history in the process.
#1. Henry Cejudo vs. Dominick Cruz – UFC 249 (2020)
Henry Cejudo’s first UFC bantamweight title defense was supposed to take place in Brazil against a fellow legend in the form of Jose Aldo. The former featherweight kingpin had dropped to 135lbs, and was gunning to become a two-division champ in his own right.
However, when the COVID-19 pandemic struck in early 2020, the fight between ‘Triple C’ and Aldo was scrapped, and instead, Cejudo’s first title defense came against Dominick Cruz.
At the time, ‘The Dominator’ had not fought for the best part of four years, but he was still widely seen as the best 135lber in the history of the UFC.
The two men faced off in the co-main event of what was the first UFC event to take place during the pandemic – UFC 249 – and for once, Cruz’s trademark movement and unorthodox style simply didn’t work.
Cejudo chopped him down with low kicks, blocked any kind of takedown attempts, and in the second round, he levelled the former champ with a big knee to the jaw.
‘The Dominator’ was unable to recover, and after a swarm of punches, the fight was called off in favour of Cejudo.
This was, remarkably, the first time that Cruz had ever been finished with strikes, and the result turned ‘Triple C’ into a bonafide legend.
The fact that he chose to hang up his gloves – albeit temporarily – after the fight, only added to Cejudo’s maverick reputation, and coming into this weekend, he’s widely recognised as one of the greatest of all time.
Whether that reputation remains after his fight with Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288, only time will tell.
