Henry Cejudo just became the fourth fighter in UFC history to hold two belts simultaneously with his victory over Marlon Moraes at UFC 238. And now with victories over Demetrious Johnson, T.J. Dillashaw, Marlon Moraes, two belts and a gold medal, it didn’t take long for the GOAT talks to begin (Transcript via Bloody Elbow):
“I am the greatest combat athlete of all time,” Cejudo said immediately following his UFC 238 victory. “And I just stole the title of best pound-for-pound fighter too!”
It also didn’t take long for Dana White to shut them down:
“I heard he also said he’s the pound for pound best in the world,” White said on the post-fight press conference. “Listen, it’s awesome that he believes in himself like that and he’s so confident. 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…”
Part of Henry Cejudo’s claim goes beyond his UFC accomplishments and heavily factors in the gold medal in wrestling that Cejudo won in 2008. But no matter how Cejudo tries to spin it, there are still other “combat sports” athletes who he has not surpassed yet:
“Wouldn’t Jon Jones be the best combat sports athlete of all time? Probably? Yeah,” White said. “There’s so many people out there. How about Amanda Nunes? She beat every big name out there. Khabib… you know how hard it is to go undefeated? And he’s in a nasty division, too. Sugar Ray Robinson. Yeah, that’s a tough one to claim. There’s been a lot of bad human beings out there.
“Look at Shevchenko. Look what she’s doing right now, where she’s headed. It’s tough to call yourself the greatest right now, let alone the greatest to ever live,” White said. “I like his spirit, though.”
Do you believe Henry Cejudo is the greatest combat sports athlete of all time?
