Henry Cejudo and the Rapidly Evolving MMA Landscape
Henry Cejudo (photo via Getty Images).It was only two years ago when Henry Cejudo TKOed Dominick Cruz to defend his bantamweight crown, joining a rarified club of fighters to defend a UFC title in two separate weight classes. Cejudo seemed to be entering the peak of his career, looking like one of the pound for pound best fighters in the world. However, Cejudo decided to leave on a high note, and abruptly retired from the sport. It is now two years later, and Cejudo has stated his desire to return to the UFC, begging the question of how the former double champ fits into the current MMA landscape that is wildly different from the one Cejudo walked away from.
Cejudo’s retirement was controversial at the time in that many didn’t see it as a real retirement, rather a negotiation tactic to get another big money fight rather than be forced to defend his belt against whichever bantamweight contender was next in line. Cejudo seemed to be banking on the idea that the MMA community would be clamoring for him to come back, but unfortunately for him, the MMA world moved on without skipping a beat. I don’t think this was a reflection of Henry’s ability as a fighter, not only did he dethrone Demetrious Johnson, who many considered to be the pound for pound best fighter in the world, Cejudo then went on to finish T.J Dillashaw, Marlon Moraes, and Dominick Cruz in consecutive fights. Rather, I think Cejudo overestimated his popularity within the MMA world, and he overestimated the memory of MMA fans. On the first point, while I personally found his whole “King of Cringe” shtick to be pretty amusing, it wasn’t nearly enough to make Cejudo a star that the UFC couldn’t live without, à la Conor McGregor. On the second point, MMA fandom really is centered around the idea of “what have you done for me lately”, or better known as the sentiment, “you’re only as good as your last fight”. While Cejudo did prove he was an elite fighter who was one of the best in the world, ultimately there a constantly up and comers looking to prove themselves in the same way Cejudo did, and if you’re not there prove you’re still one the best, you’re going to get passed on by.
Cejudo talks to Dana White following his retirement annoucment post-UFC 249 (photo via Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC).Since Cejudo has left the UFC, the bantamweight division that he once ruled over has changed dramatically, as in his absence the next generation of elite bantamweights such as Aljamain Sterling, Petr Yan, and Cory Sandhagen have established themselves at the top of the division. However, Cejudo has apparently been eyeing the featherweight division for his return, as he is advocating for a fight against the featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski. I think most fans would agree that they would want to see a third fight between Volkanovski and Max Holloway before Cejudo is thrust into title contention, but assuming Volk and Holloway fight first, I would have no issue with Cejudo challenging for the featherweight crown. Is it deserved, probably not, but why should we let merit get in the way of a good time? The UFC is no stranger to undeserved title shots, shown by the fact that Dana was floating the idea of Conor fighting Kamaru Usman for the welterweight strap despite the fact that Conor has won 1 of his last 4 fights. Cejudo is absolutely more deserving of a title shot than Conor, as Henry held belts in two divisions just two short years ago, however the UFC is ultimately in the eyeballs business, and Conor McGregor draws a hell of a lot more eyeballs than Henry Cejudo. So what do I think happens with Henry Cejudo? Honestly, I have very little idea (but that’s not going to stop me from spouting off my opinions anyway). It seems that Cejudo will be fighting at featherweight when he returns, and if he is not given a title shot right away as he would like, I think there are a lot of great matchups for him out there. Seeing Cejudo against any of Brian Ortega, Yair Rodriguez, or Calvin Kattar would be incredibly exciting and would give Henry a chance to establish himself in a new division before being fighting for the title. Not only that, but these matchups will hopefully give us an answer to the question looming over Cejudo’s return; is the King of Cringe as good as he ever was, or has the MMA landscape passed him by?