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Olympic gold medallist Henry Cejudo is chasing UFC glory

Expert
22nd November, 2015
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Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler Henry Cejudo improved his mixed martial arts record to 10-0 yesterday, strengthening his case for the next crack at UFC flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson’s title.

The 28-year-old drew his toughest career test against Jussier ‘Formiga’ da Silva, a Brazilian submission machine who was once considered the best flyweight in the world.

Cejudo passed the test with flying colours, relying on his lightning-quick hands and nasty body kicks to out-strike the dangerous grappler for the bulk of the 15-minute contest.

The American fighter won all three rounds on two of the three judges scorecards to remain perfect as a prize fighter.

Following the win, a jovial Cejudo put forward a compelling argument for being the new number-one contender at 125 pounds.

“I believe Demetrious Johnson, he’s fought the top contenders at flyweight,” Cejudo said at the post-fight press conference. “I’m an Olympic wrestler, high-calibre wrestler. I have good defence. I’m 10-0 and thus far, 4-0 in the UFC. And I’ve fought four times in about 10 months [so] I believe I’m next in line.”

Johnson recently told UFC brass that he would like to return to action on February 7 for the company’s annual Superbowl weekend show – which is traditionally one of the biggest pay-per-view events of the year.

Cejudo didn’t escape without injury during yesterday’s main card clash, hobbling into the press room after the fight with a swollen shin the size of a water bottle, but promises that he could be ready to challenge ‘Mighty Mouse’ by the first quarter of 2016.

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“I’m okay,” he smiled. “I think I’m going to take some time, talk to my coach, talk to my agent and get into a camp sooner than later.”

Cejudo’s chance to becoming the first Olympic gold medallist to snare UFC gold is seemingly right around the corner.

The talented wrestler just knocked off da Silva, the third-ranked contender in the division, and is presently the highest-ranked fighter who hasn’t already lost to the champ.

In a perfect world, the baby-faced American would be given time for additional seasoning before the important flyweight clash but Johnson’s reign of dominance has left the weight class with very few viable challengers.

Johnson has rattled off seven straight title defences since becoming the first UFC flyweight king three years ago, beating most contenders with ridiculous ease.

As a result, fighters are being pushed to the top of the mountain long before they are ready to battle Johnson – who is currently ranked as the second-best pound-for-pound fighter in the entire UFC.

Cejudo isn’t the first fighter to be thrown to the wolves early, and probably won’t be the last either.

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Japanese flyweight prospect Kyoji Horiguchi is considered a major talent, who could someday hold the UFC championship but was gifted the opportunity to fight Johnson far too soon in his development, battling the Matt Hume-trained dynamo just a few months after his 24th birthday.

Horiguchi had previously told media that he needed “a few more fights” before he was ready to fight the Washington native. But fast forward just two months after those comments and Horiguchi was plugged in to face the greatest flyweight of all time in a pay-per-view main event.

Unsurprisingly, Horiguchi lost. Johnson was nothing short of dominant in the match this past April, out-working and out-classing the Team Crazy Bee prodigy before closing the show with a buzzer-beater submission at 4:59 of Round 5.

Most expect Cejudo to suffer a similar fate against the technically flawless champion, but the quickly developing fighter does offer up a unique challenge at 125 pounds.

On paper at least, the pocket-sized contender has all the tools to give Johnson a run for his money. He has Olympic-level wrestling, ridiculous athleticism, potent kickboxing skills and a seemingly bottomless gas tank.

The four-fight UFC veterean appears to be the biggest threat to Johnson’s title in the flyweight pecking order, but if the champ is concerned about his chances against Cejudo he has an excellent poker face.

Following the unbeaten Olympian’s fourth-straight win yesterday the camera panned to the 29-year-old champion, who looked unimpressed.

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“Ready to get back to work and have the wizard [Matt Hume] and [Brad] Kertson push me!” he later tweeted.

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