MMA Fighter of the Week: Henry Cejudo

MMA Fighter of the Week: Henry Cejudo

By Kieran Cobley

Henry Cejudo takes the honour of being this weeks MMA fighter of the week, after ending the flyweight title reign of Demetrious Johnson at UFC 227 via split decision.

Cejudo was the heavy underdog going into the fight against arguably the best pound for pound fighter in the world, but kept Johnson under control with sublime wrestling and accurate striking, taking the second, fourth and fifth rounds.

It wasn’t all plan sailing for “The Messenger” though, as he rolled his ankle only seconds into the fight, and kept getting caught with Johnson’s leg kicks in the opening round, causing the back of his knees to turn bright red, as well as sustaining a small cut later on in the fight as well.

In his post fight interview with Joe Rogan, Cejudo demanded a shot at the winner of TJ Dillashaw versus Cody Garbrandt, stating:

“… The winner of this next bout Joe, I want to fight that guy, I want to fight the winner at 135lbs.

I deserve it, Olympic champion, now UFC champion, now give me that belt at 135lbs.

Demetrious Johnson didn’t go up, they don’t have to come down, I’m going up, I want that belt too.”

Dillashaw would beat Garbrandt by KO in that fight, meaning he has back to back KO’s against his arch rival.

Cejudo could very well get that next fight against Dillashaw seeing as how there is no reason to have a rubber match with Garbrandt after back to back knockouts, and the fact the bantamweight division has not really shown who the next challenger for Dillashaw is.

However, it is almost certain that after 11 consecutive title defences, Johnson will get an immediate rematch against the new champ, which will not only be for the belt, but will also be the deciding fight in the pair’s trilogy, with the two currently at one win each.

Whatever happens next won’t matter to Cejudo right now though as he celebrates winning the belt (he is only the second ever flyweight champion in UFC history) and beating one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time.