Latest news with #Cejudo
USA Today
27-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Henry Cejudo urges Alexandre Pantoja to make bantamweight move with UFC 317 win
Henry Cejudo sees nothing left at flyweight for Alexandre Pantoja if he gets his hand raised at UFC 317. UFC flyweight champion Pantoja (29-5 MMA, 13-3 UFC) will look to notch his fourth title defense when he takes on Kai Kara-France (25-11 MMA, 8-4 UFC) in Saturday's co-main event (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. A former UFC dual-champion, Cejudo thinks Pantoja should move up to bantamweight to challenge Merab Dvalishvili if he gets past Kara-France – even though the Brazilian dismissed the move. Cejudo is not ruling out Pantoja's chances against "The Machine." "With a victory for Pantoja, and he does put Kai Kara-France out, he's got to move up," Cejudo said on his "Pound 4 Pound" podcast with Kamaru Usman. "I know he recently did an interview about him not going up – man, he's lapped the division. He could surprise. I know Pantoja very, very well. "He could surprise Merab with his back take, with takedowns, too. Pantoja is super underrated with a lot of this stuff. You can't say he doesn't have a shot. I just feel like Pantoja has to give himself that opportunity to go up because he's lapping that division, and we've got to see if he can make history." Cejudo coached both Pantoja and Kara-France on Season 24 of "The Ultimate Fighter." He points to Pantoja's experience and activity as the main factor in this fight. "Kai Kara-France, he's only beat Steve Erceg and other than that, he hasn't really been that active," Pantoja said. "That's his only win in the last three years, but it was an impressive win. It was a great overhand. But other than that, it's all been Pantoja. Pantoja has been super active. He has really resurrected the flyweight division, and I feel like Pantoja is just too much for KKF."
USA Today
28-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Henry Cejudo on what makes 'greatest bantamweight of all time' Merab Dvalishvili so good
Henry Cejudo on what makes 'greatest bantamweight of all time' Merab Dvalishvili so good Henry Cejudo had high praise for former UFC foe Merab Dvalishvili. Cejudo (16-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) lost to Dvalishvili by unanimous decision at UFC 298. Dvalishvili went on to dethrone Sean O'Malley to become bantamweight champion at UFC 306, and notched his first title defense by handing Umar Nurmagomedov his first loss at UFC 311. Olympic gold medalist wrestler and former UFC dual-champion Cejudo was put in unfamiliar territory by Dvalishvili (19-4 MMA, 12-2 UFC) when he was taken down five times in their fight. "I knew Merab was really, really good with his chain fighting," Cejudo said on the JAXXON PODCAST. "So, it's not even wrestling, it's how you chain it. That's what separates them. Chaining is really putting the punches together and boom, the level change comes. Rather than just you maybe throwing a right hand and all of a sudden the level change comes. "He's able to mix it very good with his fakes and feints into takedowns. He's a f*cking machine. It's his cardio, it's his conditioning. It's the same reason why he can't knock people out because he just knows that certain threshold where he could just keep it there and take it there. He can't necessarily finish you, but he'll f*cking drown you." Dvalishvili will run things back with O'Malley (18-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) in the UFC 316 main event on June 7 from Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Cejudo sticks by his statement that Dvalishvili is the greatest bantamweight of all time. "I got to give credit to Merab and this is why I would say he's the greatest bantamweight of all time," Cejudo said. "Maybe he doesn't have the title defenses, but look at who he's beat. Yeah (he's better than Dillashaw). Look at the list of who he's beat and how he's beat them. There's a big difference."
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
‘The Wrestling World Has Taken A Hit Today'
Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC Wrestlers stick together. Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) super prospect Bo Nickal suffered his first professional loss when Reinier de Ridder delivered a devastating knee to the liver in the co-main event of UFC Des Moines last night (Sat., May 3, 2025) from inside Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa (watch highlights). Advertisement While some fans mocked Nickal's 'humbling' setback, former UFC two-division champion and fellow elite wrestler Henry Cejudo offered words of encouragement to the three-time NCAA Division I national champion from Penn State University via social media. 'The wrestling world has taken a hit today,' Cejudo wrote. 'Keep your head up @NoBickal, this is not the end. I got finished by Demetrious Johnson with a similar body shot, and I went on to avenge that loss and become champion. You are capable of doing the same. Get back on your horse, brother.' Indeed, Cejudo's own journey mirrors Nickal's setback. At UFC 197, 'Mighty Mouse' destroyed him with knees in his first title shot (watch it); however, Cejudo rebounded to become the fourth simultaneous two-divisional champion. The difference is that Cejudo had 11 fights under his belt when he faced his first loss, bringing more experience than Nickal, who is still raw and early in his mixed martial arts (MMA) career. Advertisement As 'Triple C' emphasized, Nickal's journey is far from over. He is a phenomenal athlete with untapped potential in mixed martial arts and has the tools to rebound stronger. To accelerate his growth, Nickal should aim to compete more frequently than his current pace of two fights per year, gaining the experience needed to sharpen his skills. Maybe he should fight 'cans' again? For complete UFC Des Moines results, coverage, and highlights click HERE. More from
USA Today
15-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Henry Cejudo: Max Holloway '100 percent' beats UFC 314 version of Alexander Volkanovski
Henry Cejudo urges Max Holloway to remain at featherweight and challenge Alexander Volkanovski. Volkanovski (27-5 MMA, 14-4 UFC) reclaimed the featherweight belt by defeating Diego Lopes (27-6 MMA, 6-1 UFC) in Saturday's UFC 314 main event at Kaseya Center in Miami. Multiple top contenders such as UFC 314 winners Yair Rodriguez and Jean Silva, as well as Movsar Evloev, are vying for a shot at Volkanovski. However, Cejudo suggests former champion Holloway (26-8 MMA, 22-8 UFC) instead. Although Holloway is 0-3 in title fights against Volkanovski, Cejudo sees him winning this time around. 'I feel like 145 is wide open,' Cejudo told MMA Junkie. 'I feel like the person who should come back is Max Holloway. I think Max Holloway does a number on everybody at that weight class. Yes, 100 percent (he beats Volkanovski). Obviously he did get knocked out by Ilia (Topuria) too, but I just feel like his volume, I feel like he's healthier, he's got the better chin, and I feel like it'll definitely be different this time around.' Cejudo explained that he didn't like what he saw out of Volkanovski defensively in terms of his reaction time. 'Volkanovski did look good, but if he gets touched up, I almost feel like there's something to it,' Cejudo said. 'Like he over-exaggerates when Diego was hitting him. He's got to be careful with that. I can go back and see why is it that Ilia Topuria ended up knocking him out. 'He does a lot of things good, but he does a lot of things wrong, particularly defensively. He's always doing this (leans back) or he'll go for the takedown, and he'll come up without his hands coming up, and I feel like if Diego really invested in that hook, it would be a little different.'
USA Today
15-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Henry Cejudo: Michael Chandler must 'consider retirement' after one more fight
MIAMI – Henry Cejudo can relate to Michael Chandler's current situation. Chandler (23-10 MMA, 2-5 UFC) suffered his third consecutive loss when he was stopped by Paddy Pimblett in Saturday's UFC 314 co-main event at Kaseya Center. On a three-fight losing skid himself, Cejudo (16-5 MMA, 10-5 UFC) is looking to compete one more time before calling it a career. He urges Chandler to consider doing the same. 'I'm 0-3 now, so I get it, Chandler,' Cejudo told MMA Junkie. 'He probably has to get one more and just consider retirement. That's a lot of beatings, man.' Cejudo thinks Chandler never lived up to his potential in the UFC. The former Bellator champion had competitive fights with the upper echelon of the UFC's lightweight division but wound up falling short against Charles Oliveira twice, Justin Gaethje, and Dustin Poirier. 'I think Chandler could have been the best in the world,' Cejudo said. 'He's too much of a crowd pleaser and that has really bit him in the ass. Mike Perry was a crowd pleaser, too. There's only a certain time before the UFC just says, 'Hey man, thank you for pleasing us, but we got to move on.' I feel like Chandler, they're probably going to, at this point, maybe the UFC might give him a younger guy, and that's typically what happens in this game.' For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie's event hub for UFC 314.
