The complicated combat legacy of UFC Seattle’s Henry Cejudo

Andrew Richardson is a professional fighter who trains at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, Calif., providing MMAmania.com (and its readers) with expert technical fighter breakdowns, insight and analysis you can't get anywhere else.

Henry Cejudo is a unique athlete.

Kept short and sweet, his combat resume is outstanding. There are not many who can stack up to an Olympic gold medal in wrestling (achieved at a record-setting 21 years of age), a UFC Flyweight championship reign, and simultaneous UFC Bantamweight championship.

Written up in that manner ... obviously “Triple C” is a combat sports legend. Is he an all-time mixed martial arts (MMA) great, though?

That’s a little more complicated of a question. We can definitely say Cejudo was on the path to being an MMA all-timer or spent a portion of his career building such a legacy. The problem is that it was just a small piece of time: almost all of his UFC career greatness was squeezed into six fights and a not-quite three-year period.

Twelve years after his professional debut, Cejudo is about to enter the cage at UFC Seattle this weekend (Sat., Feb. 22, 2025) for just the 21st time — 11 fewer fights than his 27-year-old opponent, Song Yadong. He spent the first six of ‘em on the regional scene missing weight, won a trio inside the Octagon that weren’t particularly memorable, then got absolutely smoked by Demetrious Johnson in his eleventh professional fight. He followed it up with a close loss to Joseph Benavidez in bout No. 12.

That’s more than half his career, and the primary highlight is an uneventful split decision over Jussier Formiga.

Cejudo — a man of such a competitive nature that he stands out amongst the sea of cage fighters with win-or-die mentalities — recognized that wasn’t cutting it. And 2017 was a rebirth and the start of that in-cage undeniable greatness.

Karate Cejudo was born when he demolished fresh-off-a-title-shot Wilson Reis. Sergio Pettis was coming off a major five-round win over Brandon Moreno, then “Triple C” shut him out. Afterward, four consecutive title victories in two divisions: “Mighty Mouse,” T.J. Dillashaw, Marlon Moraes and Dominick Cruz.

An incredible run.

Now, there are some debatable asterisks here. Did Cejudo really deserve the nod in the Johnson rematch? Eh. Would a rogue gust of wind have knocked out the malnourished Dillashaw who showed up for his Flyweight debut? Possibly. Was Cruz at his best, coming off a four-year layoff?

Likely not.

The Moraes victory is undoubtedly the single finest and most untouchable win of Cejudo’s career. It’s easy to laugh at how Moraes’ career ended, but “The Magician” was destroying people when Cejudo fought him. Cejudo took his best shots, gritted through the storm, then overwhelmed the would-be champion.

Small details aside, it’s still two titles captured and defended, about as good as a six-fight win streak can be. Unfortunately for Cejudo, six fights isn’t that many in the big picture. He retired at the top of the game in something of a leverage play for better money, and both divisions promptly moved on.

It’s hard to say exactly what kind of state Cejudo returned in, as he immediately faced the two best Bantamweight wrestlers of the last decade. He got tired against both and subsequently lost twice to excellent competition. We can blame the fatigue on age, but it’s also relevant that Cejudo never fought a prime Bantamweight wrestler before his retirement.

Cejudo has made his 2025 intentions clear. He wants to rebound against Yadong and quickly parlay that momentum into a Flyweight title bid. It’s a good plan ... if he can beat “The Kung Fu Kid” (and make 125 pounds ever again). Heck, even just defeating Yadong at 38 years of age would be a huge addition to Cejudo’s MMA resume, just his third Top 10 Bantamweight win overall.

“Triple C” likely could have been one of the most accomplished MMA fighters of all time, but he opted to walk away instead. By returning in his late 30s, he’s put himself back on that same course just with a major handicap. He can still add to his legacy in victory, but the road has grown much more rugged.

It’s hard not to think about what could have been.

LIVE! Stream UFC Seattle On ESPN+

BANTAMWEIGHT BANGER! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to Seattle for the first time in 12 years with former 135-pound champion, Henry Cejudo, topping the Climate Pledge Arena fight card on Feb. 22 against Top 10 bantamweight contender, Yadong Song. In addition, up-and-coming middleweight contenders, Brendan Allen and Anthony Hernandez, rematch for a spot in the division Top 10 in UFC Seattle’s hard-hitting co-headliner.

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Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Seattle card right here, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, before the main card start time at 9 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).

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