Tag: Henry Cejudo

UFC free fight: Aljamain Sterling wins third title defense in narrow split vs. Henry Cejudo

Watch Aljamain Sterling pick up his third UFC bantamweight title defense by earning a close decision over Henry Cejudo.

[autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag]’s biggest win during his bantamweight title reign was arguably his victory over Henry Cejudo at UFC 288.

After stopping T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 280 to record his second title defense, Sterling would meet another former champion in Cejudo. In the headlining act of UFC 288 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., Sterling and Cejudo went toe-to-toe for 25 minutes, leaving the judges split in their decision.

It was a fantastic title fight with ebbs and flows, and each man left the octagon feeling as if they did enough to win the fight.

Sterling (24-4 MMA, 16-4 UFC), who now competes in the featherweight division, returns to the octagon at UFC 310. He takes on undefeated Movsar Evloev (18-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) in an important fight with potential title implications.

UFC 310 (pay-per-view, ESPN 2, ESPN+) takes at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Check out Sterling’s big win over Cejudo in the video above.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.

Henry Cejudo open to running things back with Dominick Cruz: ‘I would love a tune-up’

Henry Cejudo is willing to be Dominick Cruz’s last dance.

[autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] is willing to be [autotag]Dominick Cruz[/autotag]’s last dance.

Former UFC bantamweight champion Cruz (24-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) recently revealed that he’s looking to compete one more time next year before calling it a career.

UFC play-by-play commentator Jon Anik suggested a rematch between Cruz and Cejudo, which sparked a back-and-forth argument on “X” between Cruz and Cejudo’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz.

Cejudo finished Cruz by TKO in their bantamweight title fight at UFC 249 in May 2020, where Cruz was unhappy with referee Keith Peterson’s stoppage of the fight. He accused him of smelling like alcohol and cigarettes.

“Dominick ‘Snooze’ – the only thing I remember about Dominick Cruz is when I put that freaking knee on top of his freaking dome,” Cejudo said on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Kamaru Usman. “That’s the only thing that I remember him for. Then he woke up and was talking about ‘Alcohol and cigarettes’ and he starts blaming the referee when he had 13 unanswered shots.

“I actually like that fight. If the UFC wants to make it, let’s make it happen. But as I’ve told you before, as I told (Mario) Bautista, and everybody else: I don’t want to get into a fight with Hunter (Campbell) no more. I’m allowing Hunter to really pick the fight. If he wants to give Dominick Cruz that fight, then let’s do it.”

After retaining his bantamweight title against Cruz, Cejudo retired. He returned three years later to challenge then champion Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight title at UFC 288, but lost a split decision. He then dropped another decision to current champion Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 298.

Meanwhile, Cruz hasn’t competed since a knockout loss to Marlon Vera in the UFC on ESPN 41 headliner in August 2022. Cejudo came to the defense of his manager Abdelaziz on social media and went after Cruz.

“Disrespect the greatest manager of all time! the last time I remember you, my knee hit your ugly face and blamed it on alcohol and cigarettes. I would love a tune-up to be honest 💋.”

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Henry Cejudo sees Joaquin Buckley stopping Colby Covington at UFC on ESPN 63

Henry Cejudo thinks Colby Covington will struggle against Joaquin Buckley at UFC on ESPN 63.

[autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] will struggle against [autotag]Joaquin Buckley[/autotag].

Covington (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) stepped in to face rising welterweight contender Buckley (20-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) in the UFC on ESPN 63 headliner Dec. 14 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.

Covington has split his past six appearances, but his setbacks have come in title fights against Kamaru Usman twice, and most recently Leon Edwards. Cejudo doesn’t see Covington posing any threats to Buckley.

“The style that Colby Covington is doing is so predictable now,” Cejudo said on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Kamaru Usman. “The fact that they see him lose time and time again, whether it’s with Leon Edwards or yourself (Usman), it’s there. Once you stop Colby’s takedowns, things will fall into place.

“Look at how Joaquin covers distance, bro. Double feints, dipping in to eventually stop a dude like ‘Wonderboy.’ So, I’m high on this kid. This kid is dangerous. I can see Colby Covington losing via stoppage to a guy like Joaquin Buckley, and I truly do believe that.”

Since dropping back down to 170 pounds, Buckley has won five straight, most recently knocking out former title challenger Stephen Thompson at UFC 307 in October. Meanwhile, Covington hasn’t competed since a unanimous decision loss to Edwards in their title fight at UFC 296 last December.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 63.

UFC champ Alexandre Pantoja skeptical of Henry Cejudo’s flyweight tease

UFC flyweight champ Alexandre Pantoja isn’t taking Henry Cejudo’s comments of a potential drop to 125 pounds too seriously.

Just a couple of months ago, former UFC two-division champion [autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] expressed interest in a potential return to flyweight, but the division’s current champion isn’t buying it as [autotag]Alexandre Pantoja[/autotag] doesn’t think Cejudo is seriously considering a drop from bantamweight.

Pantoja doesn’t have the confidence in Cejudo’s ability to get back down to 125 pounds at age 37 – unless maybe there’s medical intervention.

“When you go to the surgery doctor, yeah, he needs (liposuction) to make the weight,” Pantoja told MMA Junkie jokingly. “I don’t think he can make the weight again. He’s too big.”

Pantoja (28-5 MMA, 12-3 UFC), who returns to defend his belt against Japan’s Kai Asakura at UFC 310 on Dec. 7 in Las Vegas, likes the fight with Cejudo and sees it as a dream matchup. He just doesn’t think it can happen at 125 pounds.

“I’d love the opportunity,” Pnatoja said. “If Cejudo can do that, I’ll give him five pounds to fight. It will be a dream to fight with Cejudo, of course. He’s a legend.”

Pantoja and Cejudo share history. Cejudo was Pantoja’s coach during Pantoja’s stint on “The Ultimate Fighter” back in 2016. Yet, despite both competing at flyweight for several years, the two have never crossed paths.

Pantoja is now on a six-fight winning streak with two title defenses, while Cejudo is coming off two consecutive defeats, with one against then-champion Aljamain Sterling for the UFC bantamweight title.

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If not a title shot next, Brandon Royval would love to welcome Henry Cejudo back to flyweight

Brandon Royval is willing to fight Henry Cejudo if he drops back down to flyweight.

[autotag]Brandon Royval[/autotag] is willing to fight [autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] if he drops back down to flyweight.

Royval (17-7 MMA, 7-3 UFC) re-entered the title picture when he handed Tatsuro Taira (16-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) his first-career loss less than two weeks ago in the UFC Fight Night 244 main event.

Royval, who’s coming off back-to-back wins over former champion Brandon Moreno and Taira, is eyeing a title shot next. But if he doesn’t get his wish, he’s happy to face former UFC dual-champion Cejudo (16-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC), who said he plans on returning to 125 pounds in his next fight.

“I really don’t feel like (Cejudo) does, but I like the idea,” Royval told Middle Easy. “If they’re not giving me a title shot, I’d love to be the one that meets him. I would love to be welcoming him back to 125. Every time I’ve seen him, he looked a little big, man. I don’t know if he’s making weight at 125 anymore, and I know he struggled before.

“I feel like I’m one of the fastest in the division and he didn’t look that fast to me the last time he fought. So I’d love to beat him at 125. I would definitely be worried about the takedown, but man, there’s a big reach and height advantage coming my way, and I think I could just walk him right into a knee – vicious.”

Royval has won five of his past six, with his lone loss in that stretch coming in a title setback to UFC flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja at UFC 296 this past December.

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Kayla Harrison rips ‘jealous little man’ Henry Cejudo for breakdown of UFC 307 fight vs. Ketlen Vieira

Kayla Harrison was not pleased with Henry Cejudo’s analysis of her UFC 307 fight against Ketlen Vieira.

[autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag] was not pleased with [autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag]’s breakdown of her fight against [autotag]Ketlen Vieira[/autotag].

Harrison (17-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) takes on Vieira (14-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) on Saturday’s UFC 307 (pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+) main card at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

Although Cejudo ultimately picked Harrison to win, he thinks Vieira’s black belt in judo, as well as her striking, could pose problems for Harrison. The two-time Olympic gold medalist judoka did not hold back when returning fire at Cejudo.

“I don’t know why the hell they’re talking about a judo black belt making a difference. There are levels,” Harrison told Submission Radio. “That would be like me telling Henry, ‘Oh this kid wrestled in varsity in high school, so you’re going to struggle to take him down.’ Benign. Asinine. It’s all right. I look forward to showing once again why Henry is a jealous little man.”

Harrison doubled down on her remarks towards Cejudo during Episode 4 of “UFC Embedded.”

“Bro, you better get your boy f*cking Henry,” Harrison told Ali Abdelaziz, who represents both fighters. “I’m going to f*ck him up. After he talked all that sh*t, he was like, ‘But, I’ve got to go with Kayla.’ Oh yeah. I f*cking watched it. I’m telling you, he’s jealous because I have more gold medals than him. He can’t handle it – his little fragile ego.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.

Henry Cejudo: Kayla Harrison ‘could be in trouble’ if Ketlen Vieira can keep UFC 307 fight standing

Henry Cejudo thinks Ketlen Vieira could pose problems for Kayla Harrison on the feet.

[autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] believes [autotag]Ketlen Vieira[/autotag] could pose problems for [autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag] on the feet.

Vieira (14-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) meets Harrison (17-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) in a pivotal bantamweight clash Saturday at UFC 307 (pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+) from Delta Center in Salt Lake City. Harrison is a massive -800 favorite over Vieira, according to DraftKings, but if she can’t get the fight to the ground, Cejudo sees a path to victory for the Brazilian.

“It’s hard to bet against a girl like Kayla Harrison,” Cejudo said on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Kamaru Usman. “But I think out of all the girls right now at 135 pounds that could match her strength, because you know Vieira’s a judo blackbelt, as well, and in my opinion she has better hands than Harrison. So it’s going to come down to the wrestling.

“And I do feel like Kayla Harrison is going to bring the wrestling in, and that’s just what’s going to change it. But if Vieira can keep it on her feet, I think Kayla could be in trouble, dude. Her striking is no joke, man. She trains out there with Jose Aldo. If Kayla cannot take her down, it’s going to lean more towards Vieira’s side.”

Although Cejudo sees Viera as Harrison’s toughest stylistic matchup at bantamweight, he ultimately went with the two-time Olympic gold medalist judoka as his final pick.

“But because of the wrestling, I got to go with the two-time Olympic champ,” Cejudo concluded. “I don’t want to go against Kayla, dealing with her is a f*cking pain, dude. There’s too much ego between both of us combined. So, I’m going to have to go with the two-time Olympic champion, because of the wrestling. Not because of the judo, because of the wrestling.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 307.

Henry Cejudo calls Sean O’Malley’s win over Aljamain Sterling ‘a fluke,’ rips UFC 306 judges

Henry Cejudo threw plenty of shade toward Sean O’Malley after UFC 306.

[autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] is throwing plenty of shade toward [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] after UFC 306.

O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) lost his bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) by unanimous decision in Saturday’s Noche UFC headliner at Sphere in Las Vegas. Cejudo picked Dvalishvili to win and gloated about his accurate prediction. He also thinks O’Malley got lucky in his title-winning knockout of Aljamain Sterling at UFC 292.

“What can I say? I predicted these things,” Cejudo said on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Kamaru Usman. “Sean is not accustomed to going five rounds, and he is not accustomed to people on his legs, and I just felt like – I still go back and say, ‘Hey, that fight with Aljamain Sterling, that was a fluke too.’

“Aljamain was still in that fight, and people thought I was just hating. No, I’ve been in there with Merab. I did a whole lot better than Sean did when I fought Merab. I mean, I took down Merab. Like, Merab is lucky that I had that groin injury.”

Cejudo was flabbergasted by two judges scoring the fight 48-47 in favor of Dvalishvili. He doesn’t think O’Malley won a single round.

“You have to be careful, man. These judges need to pay for what they do,” Cejudo said. “Where is the accountability on some of these guys? Some of these guys have been boxing judges for years. Sometimes I wonder what the hell they’re looking at, but at the same thing Dana says ‘don’t leave it in the hands of the judges.’

“That scorecard is absolutely ridiculous, I don’t know what round Sean even won. Maybe the fifth? Because he hit him to the body, but he did get taken down at the end, and he did get beat up on bottom. Maybe give him that one, but other than that, that was a 50-45 slaughtering. Talk about being controlled.”

Cejudo plans to drop back down to flyweight but reiterated that he’d stick around at bantamweight if O’Malley is willing to fight him.

“I personally would love to fight him,” Cejudo said. “I think with all the trolling that we have done to each other, we both live in the same city, but I just don’t think that he’s going to want to fight me particularly right after this performance that Merab did to him.

“Merab was lucky that I was hurt in that fight. … Moving forward, if Sean O’Malley is willing and wants to fight this troll who’s the true king of Arizona, well then here I am. But if not, I’m making my way back down to 125 pounds because I’m not going to waste my time.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 306.

Sean O’Malley called out by Cory Sandhagen, Henry Cejudo, Petr Yan after UFC 306 title loss

Sean O’Malley already has a slew of top bantamweight contenders wanting a piece of him after UFC 306.

[autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] already has a slew of top bantamweight contenders wanting a piece of him after UFC 306.

O’Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) lost his 135-pound title to Merab Dvalishvili (18-4 MMA, 11-2 UFC) by unanimous decision in Saturday’s Noche UFC main event at Sphere in Las Vegas.

Following his title loss, O’Malley was immediately mocked by [autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag] (16-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC), who previously said he’d stick around at bantamweight to fight O’Malley.

“Hey O’Methyl…You wanted to be the next Conor McGregor-well now you are. Neither of you bums can defend a takedown. I’m teaching ‘Wrestling for Cokeheads’ at 8 AM. See you in the morning. @SugaSeanMMA.”

https://twitter.com/HenryCejudo/status/1835199622303666473

Also taking a shot at O’Malley is former champion [autotag]Petr Yan[/autotag] (17-5 MMA, 9-4 UFC), who lost a controversial decision to “The Suga Show” in October 2022.

“I never considered Sean a real champion because he was gifted decision against me in Abu Dhabi. Rematch season is open, so see you soon 👊🏼.”

https://twitter.com/PetrYanUFC/status/1835214318587228301

[autotag]Cory Sandhagen[/autotag]’s approach was a more respectful one, urging O’Malley to give the fans a striker’s delight matchup. Sandhagen (17-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) is coming off a main event loss to Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC on ABC 7 in August.

“Watching Merab win the title ⏩️ realizing you get Sandman v Suga because of it
.
Congrats, Merab. You earned it, man. O’Malley, time to give the people what they want. I don’t promise to not kiss you.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/C_9UdJSJ2Ul/?img_index=1

O’Malley seemed to take his loss in stride, posting a video of him working on his takedown defense on his Instagram. O’Malley was taken down six times by Dvalishvili and controlled for 10 minutes.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_7dwSGxkXz/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=012da435-4b90-4b52-9371-e83d30a962af

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 306.

Song Yadong rips Henry Cejudo for going after Sean O’Malley: ‘You’ve been ducking me since July’

Song Yadong continues to campaign for a fight with Henry Cejudo. 

[autotag]Song Yadong[/autotag] continues to campaign for a fight with former UFC two-division champion [autotag]Henry Cejudo[/autotag].

Cejudo (16-4 MMA, 10-4 UFC) intends on dropping back down to flyweight but said he’d stick around bantamweight to fight [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] (18-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC). Cejudo is convinced that O’Malley will lose his bantamweight title to Merab Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 306 (pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+) headliner at Sphere in Las Vegas, which would set up a potential fight between them.

In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Song’s coach, Urijah Faber, revealed the promotion was interested in booking Song (21-8-1 MMA, 10-3-1 UFC) vs. Cejudo at Noche UFC, but Cejudo wasn’t healthy. Song accused Cejudo of turning down a fight with him and mocked him for going after O’Malley.

“@HenryCejudo You’ve been ducking me since July. I know you told them you had injury, you want to go back to FW. But now you asking for @SugaSeanMMA 🤦??? Get fans what they want! See me in Macau!”

https://twitter.com/SongYadongLFG/status/1833608276887707895

Song is coming off a unanimous decision loss to former champion Petr Yan at UFC 299 in March. Prior to that, he picked up back-to-back main event wins over Ricky Simon and Chris Gutierrez. He hopes to compete at UFC Fight Night 248 at Galaxy Arena in Macau, China, which doesn’t yet have a main event.

Since coming out of retirement, Cejudo has dropped two straight to former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling and current title challenger Dvalishvili.

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