UFC Fight Night 78 results: Henry Cejudo gets strange split decision over Jussier Formiga

Henry Cejudo

MONTERREY, Mexico – Henry Cejudo and Jussier Formiga met at UFC Fight Night 78 with a potential shot at Demetrious Johnson’s title in the winner’s future.

Cejudo was able to outwork Formiga for the split decision victory, but the champ, who was sitting ringside seemed unimpressed when shown on camera after the bout.

The flyweight bout was part of the main card of today’s UFC Fight Night 78 event at Monterrey Arena in Monterrey, Mexico. It aired on FOX Sports 1 following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Cejudo (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) tagged Formiga (18-4 MMA, 4-3 UFC) with a two-punch combination early in Round 1, showing that he was not planning to rely on his Olympic gold medal-winning wrestling skills. Cejudo continued to show fast hands and solid boxing technique while also mixing in knees to the body when the two clinched up.

In the final minute of the opening frame, Cejudo landed a big overhand right behind the ear that briefly buckled the legs of Formiga. The Brazilian did not back off, however, throwing some of his own solid punches before getting taken down to end the round.

Round 2 opened with more action on the feet, Cejudo looking to time punches perfectly while Formiga looked for opportunities to explode in with looping punches. Both men were landing some solid shots through the round, Formiga mixing in a very hard kick to Cejudo’s calf and Cejudo landing a straight punch to high knee combination that showed off his vastly improved striking skills.

Cejudo continued his willingness to stand and strike in the early stages of Round 3, but at the 3:03 mark of the round he scored with a big takedown. Formiga bounced back to his feet immediately, however. Formiga attempted a trip takedown after eating a hard elbow to the face and knee to the midsection, but Cejudo pushed him off with ease.

Cejudo controlled the remainder of the fight, pinning Formiga to the cage and landing some hard punches when they were at distance.

The fight went to the judges’ scorecards with the scores reading 30-27, 28-29 and 30-27, giving Cejudo the win and keeping him undefeated in his professional career. Formiga was riding a three-fight winning streak coming into the bout.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 78 results include:

• Henry Cejudo def. Jussier Formiga via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 30-27)
• Erick Montano def. Enrique Marin via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Enrique Barzola def. Horacio Gutierrez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Leandro Silva def. Efrain Escudero via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Erik Perez def. Taylor Lapilus via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Bartosz Fabinski def. Hector Urbina via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• Alejandro Perez def. Scott Jorgensen via TKO (injury) – Round 2, 4:26
• Andre Fili def. Gabriel Benitez via knockout (strikes) – Round 1, 3:13
• Alvaro Herrera def. Vernon Ramos via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:30
• Polo Reyes def. Cesar Arzamendia via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 3:42
• Michel Prazeres def. Valmir Lazaro via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 78, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan contributed to this report on site in Monterrey.)