Henry Cejudo goes after Derek Cleary for questionable UFC 288 judging, asks MMA world if the right decision was made

This past Saturday, Henry Cejudo made his long-awaited return in an attempt to recapture the bantamweight title he never lost inside the octagon. The only obstacle in his path, seemingly, was reigning divisional king Aljamain Sterling. Unfortunately, 'Triple C' was mistaken, as there was another obstacle he didn't take into account.

Derek Cleary is a controversial MMA judge who has been at the forefront of several questionable decisions throughout his career. At UFC 288, he sparked some controversy by ruling the fifth round—which many believe Cejudo won—in Sterling's favor. This made Cejudo take his frustrations to Twitter.

The Olympic gold medalist posted three clips that capture the entire fifth round, captioning it by asserting that while he takes nothing away from Aljamain Sterling's performance, he'd like an explanation from Derek Cleary regarding his decision to award the last round in 'Funk Master's' favor.

Given the nature of the loss, it's easy to understand Henry Cejudo's frustrations. A possible win over Aljamain Sterling would have served as a launching pad for his attempt at MMA immortality as he would have subsequently challenged dominant featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski for an unprecedented third title.

But due to his setback at UFC 288, 'Triple C' must reevaluate his plans. However, he has since called out Merab Dvalishvili, and the gritty Georgian has accepted.

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Henry Cejudo's history with Derek Cleary

Despite Henry Cejudo's frustrations over the circumstances surrounding his recent loss to Aljamain Sterling, this is not the first time that he and Derek Cleary have crossed paths. Rather, it's not the first time that he has been the victim of a questionable decision by the tenured MMA official.

After he suffered a crushing TKO loss to all-time great Demetrious Johnson in his first-ever flyweight title fight, 'Triple C' faced Joseph Benavidez in a highly competitive bout. There was only a single digit separating their strikes, both significant and otherwise in a fight where Cejudo scored an early knockdown.

Furthermore, Cejudo also secured the only takedown of the bout. However, a point deduction was allegedly enough to discount his chances of winning and Derek Cleary judged the fight in Joseph Benavidez's favor, causing the Olympic gold medalist to brand the entire bout a robbery.