Henry Cejudo put on a solid performance at UFC 188 opposite Chico Camus. Does the Olympic gold medalist in freestyle wrestling think that was good enough for a title shot, though? As the Internet would say, "LOLNO." Speaking with the assembled media at the UFC 188 post-fight press conference, Cejudo heavily criticized his performance and laughed off questions about him being the top contender.
"I think I’m better than that. I love to mix it up with my feet, knees. I didn’t throw any of that. I pretty much just boxed," he said (h/t MMAJunkie for the video and transcription). "That’s all I did. Because the more I moved, the more I felt fatigued."
Indeed, Cejudo did not look as crisp as he did in his fights opposite Dustin Kimura and Chris Cariaso. The Messenger leaned heavily on his wrestling to pick up a unanimous-decision win over the seemingly overmatched Camus. Camus would successfully defend 14 of Cejudo's 15 takedown attempts, according to FightMetric.com, but Cejudo's clinch work ate up minutes on end, earning him the nod from all three judges.
What caused this relatively unimpressive performance? According to Cejudo, it was a rough weight cut caused by illness from eating a bad taco.
"The reason I came in so low, man, I believe it was food poisoning," he said. "If you guys noticed me at the weigh-ins, I was pale white. It was difficult for me, but I still pulled it through."
Cejudo did not look especially healthy at the weigh-ins, but that is far from unusual for him. The 28-year-old has a long history of missing weight (detailed here by CagePotato.com), and he withdrew from what was supposed to be his UFC debut at UFC 177. That said, Cejudo has successfully made weight in his three UFC bouts since then and came in at 125 pounds on the nose at UFC 188.
While there was some discussion as to whether or not Cejudo would get a shot at dominant flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson with a win, the performance casts doubt as to whether or not he would be ready for such a fight. Johnson has almost effortlessly dispatched elite veterans and hot youngsters alike, defending his belt six times while finishing four of his challengers.
Book Henry Cejudo's bad taco against Diego Sanchez's steak tartare as a featured prelim bout or I quit.
— Ben Fowlkes (@benfowlkesMMA) June 14, 2015
At one point, Cejudo's rapid development made it feel like he could reasonably contend for the UFC title with just three fights in the promotion. Beating Camus by anything less than lopsided thrashing, however, gave proponents a much-needed reality check when it comes to Cejudo's place in the division.
Not only that, but the flyweight division is not hurting for contenders at the moment. John Dodson has done strong work building up a potential rematch both in and out of the cage. Old foe Joseph Benavidez is currently riding a three-fight winning streak. Jussier da Silva has solidified his place as a top-10 flyweight after struggling through his first three fights.
Cejudo's future remains incredibly bright. The time to discuss him as a contender, as he said, is not today.
