Henry Cejudo

Henry Carlos Cejudo, also known as The Messenger, is an American mixed martial artist of Mexican

origin, currently signed to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He competes and is the current

reigning champion of the flyweight division in UFC.

Early Life

While in high school, Henry Cejudo won the national freestyle tournament of AWF and earned

accolades for his performance at Pan American Games, before winning a gold medal at the 2008

Summer Olympics in Beijing. At that time, he was the youngest American to be an Olympic champion

in freestyle wrestling. He retired from freestyle wrestling in 2012 to begin a career in MMA.

MMA Career

After a year with the Arizona-based WFF and amazing an undefeated record of 6-0, Henry Cejudo

signed with UFC in 2014, thus becoming the third Olympic gold medallist to do so. His first UFC fight

against Scott Jorgensen got cancelled due to weight issues, in context of which UFC president Dana

White said he should either move up to bantamweight or leave the promotion.

His first match turned out to be a bantamweight bout against Dustin Kimura, where he won by

unanimous decision. He won the next few matches in the same manner. In 2015, Henry Cejudo

made news by refusing to fight in Nevada in protest of fining and suspension of Nick Diaz by Nevada

State Athletic Commission following a failed drug test. He held NSAC’s procedure responsible for the

boycott. However, he did fight in Nevada in 2016 breaking the boycott, against the-then Flyweight

champion Demetrious Johnson, which he lost.

A rematch happened in 2018, and Cejudo won this time to become the second UFC Flyweight

champion and also the first Olympic gold medallist to do so.

Current Status

As of January 16, 2019, Henry Cejudo’s win-loss record stands at 13-2. At UFC Fight Night 143, Cejudo defeated T.J. Dillashaw to retain his Flyweight Title after the latter had dropped down to Flyweight to challenge for title.

At UFC 238, Cejudo faced Marlon Moraes for the vacant Bantamweight Championship, after USADA had announced that Dillashaw had tested positive for EPO in pre and post-fight screenings and had been suspended for two years. Cejudo won the fight via TKO in the third round making him the fourth fighter to simultaneously hold championships in two weight divisions in UFC.

Current Titles:

UFC Flyweight Champion

Weight: 125 LBs / 57 KGs

Class: Flyweight

Win-Loss-Draw: 13-2-0