Not only did Henry Cejudo make history at UFC 238 by becoming the latest champ-champ, he evidently did so, while dealing with a trashed ankle…
The flyweight champ faced Marlon Moraes for the vacant bantamweight title on Saturday, and during the opening round, things weren’t looking good for the Olympic gold medal wrestler. But, “The Messenger” began closing the distance more effectively, and ended up finishing Moraes in round three with ground-and-pound strikes.
Well, during fight week, after Cejudo didn’t do an open workout, talk that the champ could have an injury started making the rounds. Cejudo claimed he had only bumped his knee, but after his thrilling win at UFC 238, he revealed he had badly sprained his ankle days before (quotes via MMA Junkie):
“I had suffered it on Tuesday night,” Cejudo said. “The first night that we got there, the UFC mats, they were kind of some cheap tape, and I stepped on the crack, which I thought it was sealed together, and I sprained my ankle.
“So the rumors were true. But I kind of had to keep it between myself, get therapy along the week. I was able to fight through adversity again, going in with adversity and then getting kicked exactly where it was hurting. I think that’s what also makes this victory extremely special.”
Yup. The fact he was able to stop the bigger and ridiculously dangerous Moraes while dealing with this injury is indeed, very impressive. Cejudo’s camp also shared pictures of what his ankle looked like, before the fight…
That’s nasty. Now it will be really interesting to see what comes next for Cejudo. During the post-fight presser, UFC President Dana White said he’s on board with Cejudo defending both the 125 and 135 titles moving forward.
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