Henry Cejudo has gone from the King of Cringe to the Duke of Do Or Die.
Cejudo was once content to amp the awkwardness, the self-appointed highness offering pillows of vanquished opponents and bringing out Carrot Top-like props while sporting a crown and carrying a scepter.
This was Triple C, short for Triple Champion, building his image at his peak.
As uncomfortable and weird as it was, Cejudo was royalty. Sure, he was part of a rare breed of UFC fighters to have won championships in two divisions. But none of the others has an Olympic gold medal.
And now Cejudo, at 37, wants to add to his unparalleled résumé by putting it all on the line in his pursuit to become a champion one more time, saying if he cannot defeat Merab Dvalishvili in a presumed No. 1 bantamweight title contender fight at UFC 298 on Saturday at Honda Center, he will walk away from the sport.
“It’s either all or nothing. I have a lot in my life,” a down-to-earth, cringe-free Cejudo told the Southern California News Group at media day on Wednesday. “So just continue to keep fighting? With the family and business and real estate and YouTube content and all that other stuff? Either get it done now, become champion once again, or I don’t want anything to do with it. And I’m OK with that.”
All eyes will be on this bout, the second fight on the main card, as Cejudo’s career hangs in the balance.
His combat sports legacy, however, which began with him becoming the youngest American to win Olympic gold in wrestling history at the age of 21 at the 2008 Beijing Games, will remain intact.
“What he has accomplished in the Octagon, everything he has achieved in the sport, that’s great. That’s … everything we want, right?” said Ilia Topuria, who will challenge featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski in Saturday’s main event. “He’s become an Olympic champion. He’s become a UFC champion, double champion. He did so many great, great things and he keeps fighting,…
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