White Shuts Down Cejudo GOAT Talk

No one was more impressed by Henry Cejudo than Dana White, but that doesn’t mean he agrees with the double champ’s GOAT talk.

Henry Cejudo put on an amazing fighting performance on Saturday night at UFC 238 in Chicago. Coming back from a bad first round, the Olympic gold medalist switched up strategies and turned the bout into a dog fight, bullying past Marlon Moraes’ leg kicks and unloading with heavy hands. A match people thought Henry was going to lose in the first turned into one he won with just 9 seconds left in the third, elevating him to just the fourth UFC fighter to hold two division belts simultaneously (watch the highlights here).

To say Cejudo was pumped would be an understatement. He took a moment on the mic to make sure the world knew exactly how good he thinks he is.

”I am the greatest combat athlete of all time,” Cejudo yelled. “And I just stole the title of best pound-for-pound fighter too!”

While two UFC belts and an Olympic gold medal does indeed put Cejudo above everyone else in the hardware department, UFC president Dana White poured a little cold water on the GOAT discussion during the UFC 238 post-event press conference.

”Let’s just stick with these two weights and then we’ll talk about that stuff,” he said when asked if he’d let Cejudo challenge for the 145 pound belt next. “I heard he also said he’s the pound for pound best in the world.”

”Listen, it’s awesome that he believes in himself like that and he’s so confident,” White continued. “But you gotta be realistic. You’ve got Jon Jones out there. Khabib’s never lost, he’s undefeated. And look at the guys these guys have run through, and look at how long Jon Jones has defended his title. Yeah, so.”

That’s not to say White wasn’t extremely impressed with what he saw from his new champ champ.

“I’m blown away by his performance. I’m never gonna doubt that kid again,” he said. “This guy has heard it all from ‘You didn’t really beat Demetrious’ to ‘It was a fluke when you knocked out T.J.’ You can’t deny the guy anymore. He’s awesome.”

Just not the GOAT. But hey, a few more high profile wins like this and the arguments are only going to get louder in his favor. Cejudo called out former 135 pound champs Dominick Cruz and Cody Garbrandt (and Urijah Faber, but we’ll ignore that). Cruz is still injured and Garbrandt is on a losing streak, but it shows Cejudo is all about big fights that pump up his resume. If the UFC ends up paying him the ‘heavyweight money’ he was asking for, I wouldn’t be surprised if by this time next year we’re all agreeing with his wild GOAT declarations.