Henry Cejudo reflects on his devastating loss to Demetrious Johnson at UFC 197 and says he completely underestimated the champion’s clinch game.
Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo entered UFC 197 brimming with confidence. The freestyle wrestling specialist, who captured gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, successfully transferred his grappling skills to the Octagon and catapulted to title contention with 10 straight wins.
Looking to replicate his Olympic success in the UFC, Cejudo took on flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson in last night’s co-main event and found success early in the fight with a takedown. From that moment, however, it was all downhill for the 29-year-old.
Johnson sprung back to his feet with authority and began dismantling Cejudo from the clinch. ‘Mighty Mouse’ attacked with a barrage of knees to the face and body, eventually wilting Cejudo with a body shot midway through the first round. It signalled the end for ‘The Messenger’, who was left writhing on the ground and saved by referee big John McCarthy from further punishment.
What makes the experience all the more humbling for Cejudo is that fact that he had trained specifically to wear Johnson down in the clinch.
“Honestly, that was part of our game plan as a camp,” Cejudo said at the UFC 197 post-fight press conference (h/t Luke Thomas of MMA Fighting). “I really did believe I was going to dominate the clinch. Coming from a wrestling background, I felt really strong. It was that first knee that he hit me with. I think he said it during the interview, too. He heard me grunt. I took him down. I could’ve held him down a little longer, but I was still trying to catch my breath. It was that one knee that really did it.
“When you get hit to the body, you don’t even worry about your face no more. So, I just started kinda protecting my body, like hanging my head down. He did a good job. He attacked my body.
“I underestimated his clinch and he hit me to the body on both sides. He did a good job. I underestimated his clinch. The plan was to take him there and then slowly wrestle him. That knee was the difference in that he just beat me up with knees. That was the biggest thing.”
When reflecting on his loss, Cejudo said he needs to take a step back to analyze his performance to see exactly where things went wrong. Humble in defeat, the Arizona-based fighter admitted to being in awe of Johnson’s skills and says he would like to see the 125-pound kingpin take on Dominick Cruz for the bantamweight title.
“The only thing I can do is just go back. Maybe I should take my time a little bit,” Cejudo said. “I’m actually curious to see him fight at 135. I want to see how good he really is. He proved it tonight. I’m humbled. I’d like to see him fight at 135 for the championship. I want to see how good Demetrious Johnson is or how far he could take it.”
Johnson fought Cruz for the 135-pound belt in 2011 but fell short of divisional gold. Since then, he’s established himself as a pound-for-pound great, becoming the first flyweight champion in UFC history and defending the title eight times. With his 10th consecutive win over Cejudo, DJ moves to 12-1 in his UFC career and is well on his way to becoming one of the greatest champions in the sport.