Like it or not, lowering weights is deeply rooted in mixed martial arts. MMA has adopted its weight-cutting approach from the sport of wrestling, where you are supposed to be the best and strongest in your weight class.
Known as the “fight before the fight,” most UFC fighters are known to cut between 5-25 pounds, with some fighters able to cut more than 30 pounds. Losing weight is the ultimate test of discipline and willpower.
Many fighters in this sport consider losing weight extremely unprofessional, and there is often always a risk that a fighter will lose a percentage of his fight bag.
In this series, we’ll highlight select fighters who have cut an enormous amount of weight, who have lost weight multiple times in the past, and who have made weight class changes, along with how weight and weight cuts can affect potential upcoming matches.
In short, every aspect of weight reduction and how it affects a fighting game.
Henry “The Messenger” Cejudo (16-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC)
Flyweight (125 lbs.): 7-2 (UFC), former UFC flyweight champion, *1 fight canceled due to weight cut
Bantamweight (135 lbs.): 3-0 (UFC), former UFC Bantamweight Champion
Henry Cejudo stands at 5’4 with a reach of 67.5 and is clearly an incredibly unique combat athlete.
Cejudo competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics in freestyle wrestling, representing the United States. Competing at 55 kg or 121 lbs, Cejudo won the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics at just 21 years old.
After a valiant but failed attempt to make the US Olympic wrestling team for the second time in 2012, Cejudo retired from wrestling and looked forward to moving into MMA.
Cejudo would transition and start his professional MMA career a year later in 2013 at 135 lbs.
Henry had been losing weight before his last fight before he was picked up by the UFC, weighing in at 128.5 lbs. For his main event, he fought at flyweight under the Legacy FC banner.
Cejudo also pulled out of another fight a few months ago citing a stomach flu that many speculated was caused by a difficult weight cut.
Henry will also be delaying his UFC debut due to medical issues related to his weight loss prior to his scheduled bout. Scott Jorgensen At UFC 177. The bout was canceled as a result of which many expressed serious doubts about Henry’s career in the UFC at 125lbs, before it even began.
When Cejudo finally debuted a few months later in late 2014, he did so at bantamweight vs Dustin Kimura to win by unanimous decision. Henry then fell back to the flyweight division winning three in a row to put him in his first meet against him Demetrius Johnson In 2016 for the UFC Flyweight Championship.
Although Cejudo was unsuccessful in capturing the belt that night and lost his next fight via split decision, he would make an incredibly successful comeback.
Henry would win four more fights at flyweight including avenging his loss Demetrius Johnson For and defending the UFC Flyweight belt TJ Dillashaw In his final fight in the flyweight division, two weeks before his 32nd birthday.
Cejudo will go on to talk about how challenging his tenure at 125 lbs An episode of Food Truck Diaries, Below the Belt with Brendan Schaub From Showtime Sports saying:
“Losing weight is hard for me, man. Making ’25 is hard. In my UFC debut, I didn’t go heavier. I haven’t gained weight many times in my fighting career trying to get to 25.”
Cejudo returned to bantamweight in June of 2019 and captured the then-vacant belt, ending Marlon Morris In three rounds he became a double UFC champion.
In his last fight before his temporary retirement, he finished Dominic Cruz To defend his bantamweight title in May of 2020.
Now, just days into the three years since his retirement from the sport, Henry will be back on the face Aljamin Sterling For the heavyweight title at UFC 288.
Now 36 years old, and with so much preparation, it’s highly unlikely that Sejudo will fight extensively, but he will definitely be the fighter to watch when it comes time to fight to see how his body reacts to the weight reduction, rehydration process, and time remaining from active competition. Especially since Cejudo has teased a possible move to the UFC’s 145-pound division in the future if he takes care of business at UFC 288.