Olympic Gold Medalist Henry Cejudo to Make MMA Debut March 2 in Arizona

Cejudo, 26, will square off with local competitor Michael Poe in the evening’s bantamweight co-main event, which takes place at Casino del Sol Event Center in Tucson. The event is headlined by a middleweight title confrontation between onetime UFC competitor Edgar Garcia and Leroy Fornoff.

The 2008 Olympic freestyle wrestling gold medalist at 121 pounds, Cejudo conquered the field in Beijing at just 21 years of age, winning his title by topping Japanese talent Tomohiro Matsunaga in the gold medal match. Cejudo hoped to return for the 2012 Olympic Games last summer but failed to qualify at the U.S. trials.

In Poe, Cejudo faces a fighter still searching for his first professional victory. After posting a 2-0 record as an amateur, the Arizonan turned pro in 2009 and has lost four straight fights, most recently suffering a first-round technical knockout on Jan. 19 under the King of the Cage banner.