It’s time Demetrious Johnson reacts to Henry Cejudo’s pivotal bantamweight title victory.
‘The Messenger’ recently became the fourth-ever simultaneous two-division champ in UFC history by finishing Marlon Moraes via TKO (highlights here) to win the vacant bantamweight belt in the main event of last weekend’s (Sat., June 8, 2019) UFC 238 from Chicago, Illinois. With the impressive victory, Cejudo added the 135-pound title to a trophy case that already contains the UFC 125-pound championship (and an Olympic gold medal in wrestling, of course).
Johnson Reacts To Cejudo’s Huge Win
Former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson, the man Cejudo beat to win his first UFC title, finally responded to Cejudo’s win over the previously surging Moraes. Recently speaking up in a Twitch live stream (via MMA Mania), Johnson had high praise for Cejudo’s third-round TKO.
So much so, in fact, that he hopes the UFC starts paying the new double champ what he deserves. ‘Mighty Mouse’ also said he was surprised that Moraes gassed out so badly after a strong start to the fight:
“I thought Henry Cejudo did an amazing job. I hope they start paying that man, I look forward to seeing what he does next in his career. The thing I was most surprised about was Marlon Moraes gassing. I was shocked that he gassed. And Henry Cejudo took advantage and made it a dogfight. He came out the champion. Henry Cejudo, he’s ‘Triple C’, he’s the ‘champ champ champ’.”
Praise For An Old Rival
Always the consummate pro, ‘Mighty Mouse’ showered Cejudo with compliments. He deserves it, as he’s clearly taking major steps to actually living up to the title of the ‘best combat sports athlete ever’ he’s assigned to himself. Johnson squared off with Cejudo twice before, toppling him via brutal TKO at UFC 197 in April 2016 before losing a close split decision to a rejuvenated ‘Messenger’ at last August’s UFC 227.
Perhaps Johnson’s high praise is due to the fact he lost to Cejudo. But that’s hardly the former champ’s style. ‘Mighty Mouse’ left the UFC after his second fight with Cejudo, moving to ONE Championship in a highly-publicized ‘trade’ for welterweight star Ben Askren. He finished Yuyu Wakamatsu with an impressive second-round submission in his ONE debut at March 31’s ‘A New Era’ event. Johnson is now set to advance in the ONE flyweight grand prix.
Cejudo, meanwhile, will move on to defend one of his two current UFC titles. The fight game seems to be his oyster right now, and his list of accolades is rapidly filling up. In all honesty, it might be nice to see a Cejudo vs. Johnson trilogy fight next, but that isn’t in the cards for the time being.
Who should Henry Cejudo face next in his first defense as double champ?
