Message delivered.
Two years after losing to flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson via first-round TKO, Henry Cejudo was set on showing the world just how much he had improved. "The Messenger" did just that on Saturday as the former U.S. Olympic gold medalist out-grappled Johnson over five rounds to score a split-decision at UFC 227 inside Staples Center in Los Angeles.
The upset loss brought an end to the historic six-year reign of Johnson (27-3-1), who set a UFC record with 11 defenses of his 125-pound title as Cejudo (13-2) becomes just the second flyweight champion in the promotion's history.
"I most definitely did [shock the world]," Cejudo said. "From being knocked down in the first round, I went on and beat the greatest of all-time."
Cejudo, 31, a native of Los Angeles, took home the decision on judges' scores of 48-47 (twice), which was the same score the third judge had in favor of Johnson. CBS Sports also scored it 48-47 for the former champion.
The dramatic victory for Cejudo throws chaos to the sport's pound-for-pound rankings as Johnson, 31, entered not just as the universally renown best fighter in the sport but among a shortlist of those in contention for G.O.A.T. status. Now, not only did Cejudo stake his claim as the best flyweight in the world, he made his plea immediately after the fight to become a two-division champion by facing the winner of Saturday's bantamweight title main event between TJ Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt.
Can't get enough UFC? Subscribe to my podcast In This Corner with Brian Campbell where we break down everything you need to know in the Octagon.
"Wherever [UFC president] Dana White is, I felt disrespected this whole time," Cejudo said. "America is all about winners and the winner of this next fight, I want to fight that guy. I want to fight the winner at 135 pounds and I deserve it. Demetrious Johnson didn't go up and they don't have to come down. I'm going up and I want that belt too."
The fight didn't start out in Cejudo's favor as he appeared to turn an ankle in the opening round and limped at times as Johnson continued to switch stances and score with strikes from the outside.
"It was a low calf crusher that Demetrious hit me with and it hurt," Cejudo said. "I couldn't find my balance. It was a nerve thing, I think so. It was muscle. When I had my [pre-fight] interview with Daniel Cormier and he said, 'How are you going to win this fight,' I said composure. I had the composure to win this fight. Demetrious is fast man. He may not hit that hard but he is fast and I just had to hold my composure."
Not only did Cejudo shake off the pain of his lower left leg, he relied on his size and grappling ability to begin to build a case on the scorecards in Round 2 by turning a relatively uneventful round in his favor late by pushing the pace and taking Johnson down before using his weight to lay all over him until the horn.
Cejudo recorded two more takedowns in Round 3, although Johnson quickly regained his feet each time and seemed to control the frame by darting in and out with strikes. But Cejudo closed strong in Round 4 and 5 with late takedowns and ended the final round by hurting Johnson with a knee to the body and a series of punches as the crowd rose to its feet.
Despite the razor-thin loss, Johnson remained in good spirits after the fight and showed a ton of class by not disputing the decision in any form.
"It was a great fight, Henry Cejudo was tough," Johnson said. "I had a great gameplan and I just tried to kick out his legs but when he got on top of me, he would just try and hold so credit to him.
"He's a big dude and I would feel each time we would clash and he would get big shots off. Nothing really hurt me but he's the champ now so congrats to him. He's just a big dude and he's strong. I'm going back home and my wife is going to have her third child and I'm just going to recover and see what is next."
For complete results from UFC 227, click here.
