Light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith is not a fan of Henry Cejudo’s shtick.
Henry Cejudo defeated Marlon Moraes at UFC 238 to earn the UFC bantamweight championship to go along with his flyweight title. Cejudo picked up this second strap after an inspired performance, surviving Moraes’ tormenting leg kicks and power advantage. Refusing to be demoralized, Cejudo instead rebounded with a greater and unexpected return-fire that swiftly turned the tide of the battle until Cejudo was the only warrior standing. Anthony Smith was among those watching at home and he had to give it up to Cejudo for the stellar performance:
“To be honest, I wish he’d let his performance speak for himself,” Smith said in an interview on The Luke Thomas Show. I’m really impressed by the way he was able to turn things around after that opening round. Because it wasn’t looking good, man. I was looking around thinking, oh, my gosh. He’s gonna get walked through if it keeps going like this. And his ability to throw the game plan to the side and just go and get it, I was really impressed.”
Anthony Smith may have been impressed with Cejudo’s performance, but the post-fight antics he could have done without:
“I do feel that the way he talks about stuff and the way he goes about his self-promotion just takes away from his performance a little bit,” Smith said. “It’s really hard to sit here and toot the Henry Cejudo horn when he’s doing it so much himself. So I wish he would let everyone else say it and kind of win a little bit more humbly. It’s really off-putting for someone to have such a performance like that and for you to be so impressed with it, and then you hear him talk about how he wants to be paid more, he wants heavyweight money, It’s a little bit off-putting, and it makes it hard to root for him.”
Do you agree with Anthony Smith? Does Henry Cejudo’s post-fight antics and interviews take away from his great performances?
