A Case for Goat is a series that investigates individual MMA fighters and analyzes their case for greatest mixed martial artist of all time. This is a conversation that has seemingly always existed in not just MMA, but the entire world of sports. Jordan or Lebron? Moss or Rice? Tyson or Ali? Although these questions may have no correct answer, they sure can make for interesting debate. This series will no doubt stimulate that debate, as it will discuss fighters who seemingly always find a place in this conversation, as well as fighters that are mentioned with far less frequency.
The first fighter to be investigated in this series is Henry Cejudo. In all honesty, Cejudo is likely not a name that graces many peoples’ lists of greatest of all time. However, a resumė as strong as his certainly deserves consideration.
Cejudo’s case for greatest of all time begins before his career in the UFC. Instead, it began in Beijing, China at the 2008 Olympic Games. It is basically common knowledge amongst MMA fans that Cejudo is an Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling, seeing as how he mentions it with incredible frequency in an attempt to be intentionally cringy. However, it is less known how historic that gold medal was. The United States had not won gold at that weight class for more than a century prior to the 2008 games. Additionally, Cejudo was only 21 years old at the time, making him the youngest wrestler from Team U.S.A. to ever win a gold medal (a record that has since been broken). While some may not consider his success on the wrestling mat relevant to his case for greatest MMA fighter of all time, it would be criminal to not, at the very least, mention such an incredible feat in martial arts when discussing the best mixed martial artist of all time. Cejudo likely could have accomplished a great deal more on the wrestling mat had he not made the decision to retire from the sport of wrestling at a relatively young age after failing to qualify for the 2012 Olympic games in London.
After transitioning to the sport of MMA, Cejudo was once again able to find gold. Cejudo fought in five championship fights during his tenure with the UFC, three at 125 pounds, and another two at 135 pounds, and was able to clinch victory in four of those fights. While four title fight victories may not seem like such a great achievement, seeing as how there have been several fighters in the UFC to find victory in four, or even more, title fights. However, there are a few aspects of these title fights that bolster Cejudo’s argument for greatest of all time. As previously mentioned, these title fights happened at two different weight classes. This makes Cejudo one of only seven UFC fighters to hold titles at two separate weight classes, and one of only four to hold those titles simultaneously. It is also important to note the fighters he beat in these title fights. First, Demetrius Johnson. Demetrius Johnson is a fighter who may very well be featured in this series at some point down the road. Not only does he hold the record for most consecutive title defenses in UFC history, he rarely faced an opponent that could challenge him inside the octagon. Henry Cejudo himself was beaten by Demetrius Johnson, but was able to find victory in their rematch. Following his victory over Demetrius Johnson, Cejudo fought another champion in TJ Dillashaw, who moved to 125 pounds in an attempt to become a two division champion. Dillashaw had won a handful of title fights at 135 pounds prior to moving down to challenge Cejudo. Cejudo quickly put an end to Dillashaw’s hopes of becoming a two division champion, as Cejudo finished Dillashaw via TKO in the very first round. Following the fight, Cejudo moved up to 135 pounds to challenge for the Bantamweight title, and Dillashaw was suspended for testing positive for performance enhancing drugs. In his debut at 135 pounds, Cejudo fought Marlon Moraes for the bantamweight title. After a difficult first round, Cejudo was able to make the necessary adjustments to defeat Moraes via third round TKO. In his second fight at 135 pounds, Cejudo fought Dominick Cruz, another fighter whose name may appear in the conversation for greatest of all time. Dominick Cruz beat both Dillashaw and Johnson in bantamweight title fights, and is undeniably one of the best ever at 135 pounds. In their matchup, Cejudo defeated Cruz in the second round, once again by TKO. In his five title fights, Cejudo defeated 3 current (at the time) or former UFC champions who had over 20 combined title fights in the promotion. Not many fighters have a resume as solid as Cejudo, which is especially impressive given his relatively short stint as champion.
While Cejudo does have an impressive resume, it is not without blemishes. Cejudo lost back to back fights earlier in his career. Following a dominant TKO loss to Demetrius Johnson, Cejudo lost to Joseph Benavidez via split decision. In addition to these losses, and already mentioned beforehand, Cejudo has relatively few title fights compared to other people who may be in the conversation of greatest of all time. During his time in the UFC, he only defended each title one time, which is definitely harmful to his case for greatest of all time.
The point of this series is not to draw conclusions. Whether Henry Cejudo, or any fighter for that matter, is truly the greatest of all time is something that will always be up for debate. However, based on the information presented, it should be clear that Cejudo deserves a spot in the conversation.