Henry Cejudo speaks with members of the media following his loss to Aljamain Sterling aUFC 288: Sterling vs Cejudo in Newark.
Henry uh I know not the outcome you were hoping for tonight but uh just give us your immediate thoughts on the fight I know some people felt you won Sean O’Malley was in here he said he thought you won did he feel you won sure why not I gotta I gotta rewatch the fight I just know the improvements that I uh that I have to make to uh to flip that you know it’s like yeah I fought my ass off at the same time it’s it has been three years but I had a great training camp you know could have done more or could have adjusted and I could have done more but could it adjust it on some things and that’s that’s kind of what what bugs me a little bit just stupid little errors like particularly that first round I was winning it put him to his back I just allowed him to kind of kind of steal it at the very end and yeah I mean there’s a lot of people think that I won I mean I don’t know you tell me I mean typically the way I see it if I don’t if I don’t dominate like just it’s just hard man I’m such a competitor man I don’t think people realize I like to me it’s it’s all or nothing if I’m not first I’m last um I know there was some moments of success but you kind of said there like do you think in some of those sequences if you didn’t have the three years like before when you’re fighting would you have been a little sharper there do you think the time off had a lot to do with it because I know you feel you’re a smarter fighter now but was the execution just not there yeah probably even when I retired uh after I won the Olympics I retired for three years it was it was incredible the fact that I made it all the way this I made it all the way to the semifinals at the Olympic trials I guess the number one guy in the world and I literally I missed the Olympic team by that much I only had like maybe seven eight matches of competition but just to like take it there you know sometimes you make your own bed and that’s that’s that’s what happens um you know I gotta go back and really think about what is it that I that I want to do because I just I’m out to chase greatness man I’m not just I’m just not out here just to fight just to fight man just to hear the crowd Roar you guys tell me good job oh I think you won like my my yeah my dream is to just reach mountains uh nobody’s ever climb and I think uh and and that’s probably that’s partially why I take my my resume that series and that’s probably why I even started this because because I am proud of it you know can I say the Olympic champ the flyweight champ the battleway champion of the world the greatest combat athlete of all time like that’s uh you know these this is the stuff that motivates me and uh it is what it is man I I will say this man also was awkward as hell dude like he was like I Now understand the I thought it was just his breath of the fact that it was probably a little smelly but the dude was he he was he is a little awkward in there if you don’t have those right guys to mimic him it’s just it’s different it’s it’s just different because he’s a freestyler like he’s just uh you don’t he’s out there making adjustments on the move or he’s just moving just to move or he’s doing certain things just to do and it’ll it’ll it’ll it’ll message you a little bit what do you think I know and then when you talk to Rogan in there you said you got you’re kind of internally conflicted um it’s been a few more minutes not too long but if you had to BET right now do we see flight ever again it was pretty cool that then it didn’t help me remove my my gloves which is really nice I got a nice little uh handshake from him too I don’t know man I I gotta lay back you know my wife’s pregnant like we’re getting ready to have another kid and uh even these last you know two to three months like not being able to give my kid that attention that I got I’m I’m a good father man I love spending time with my kid I love playing with them and it’s just like cutting weight not holding her kind of neglecting that like just having a lot of my training Partners play with her it’s almost like those are the stuff that uh you know I’ve been to a lot of people made a lot a lot of you guys don’t give a but to me it’s it’s the time with my kid means the world to me especially the fact that I have another another one on the way no as I shouldn’t just last thing for me um it still shows you’re held in high regard you probably haven’t seen this but Brandon Moreno uh took to Instagram and basically called you out he said after his next fight he wants to fight you in Mexico City he would even move up to bantamweight he said f the belts and that’s a fight he seems to badly want I guess now everybody wants a piece of me huh I guess we’ll talk about it I mean Money Talks if the UFC wants to put it together and there’s a nice little budget and for both of us I didn’t do it in Mexico though hell no you can do it here in America or something like that but I’m not opposed to any of that yeah no to just immediately start building your next fight but what exactly is the issue for people who don’t know between you and Brandon ah we’re friends at one point he even lived with me for for a minute and uh got him on The Ultimate Fighter show that didn’t uh that didn’t plan out that didn’t work out uh I did I we picked them we try to pick them second due to uh the way the stats work and the team stuff he ended up on the other team he ended up training with benavidez and uh we just became unfriends you know what I’m saying but we’re close at one point but that that’s the last of it I’m thinking of like I’m not I’m after gold man like my biggest thing was to was to sincerely beat Al Joe fight O’Malley and then go after volcanovski if I had a close fight a close Split Decision with aljo I mean what I had planned with volkanovsky’s just like man you know it hurts me it it that’s what burns it’s not that algal fight you know what I’m saying it’s the fact that what I had already premeditated I would never come back if I didn’t think I could do something like that losing a split decision where a lot of people think that I want it’s just like I don’t know man I saw I’m a little confused man I’m a little pissed and I’m a little yeah uh anybody think that I want here you guys can be sincere man from what I have from what I understand everyone cage side saw it closer to your way and then people online and watching the broadcast saw it closer to his way so I don’t know we could do that but um maybe I’ll do that but if not I’m just gonna sit down and really talk to the wife and see what uh see what I want to do you know I I don’t know if this is something you even care about at this point but do you view the way that that fight between him and Sean O’Malley could go and do you have a favorite in that fight who could probably win it if if you know Krishan does have been striking Sean does go to the body very well he does have those kicks up the middle but I’ve been in there with algeman too I think he’s a gamer so it all depends I think uh obviously having a close pile with audio I I gotta go with him you know what I’m saying I think uh I think O’Malley hasn’t fought now the competition that alja has fought and now you can kind of I can shake his hand you know what I’m saying I can be like hey I mean not to just throw options at you and this will be the last one for me I mean they have a problem with marab in that he can’t fight for the title maybe you could go take that care of that problem for them you beat his teammate you get a rematch right away hey I love the story lines you guys are giving okay okay I’m gonna I’m gonna I’m gonna take some time I’m gonna take some time and uh and just see talk to Ali talk to my management and then uh it opens up a lot of doors because you also have a lot of other Killers too you know with Sam Hagen and uh you know Umar like depends depends what can kind of come together uh I’m not sure if you’d have time to see this but Conor McGregor posted a video to his Twitter offering you some advice for your next fight telling you maybe you should switch stances and it’ll go better your way and offer you some coaching tips man Conor mcgregated I don’t got on my resume that’s all I gotta say you know he’s been stopped after a three-year layoff what I was able to do and compete and then here in here in the booze from the crowd once uh you know they announced the winner I mean that says a lot to me but there’s still levels and I I still know that I could get better too but guys like even like you know selling this fight like it’s okay man bring the hate maybe it’ll motivate me you know I’m not one of these guys that was just like yeah I’m a little pissed because I hate losing but I love it I love it so thank you Connor Henry way over way over to you right here Henry um I wanted to uh sorry about that joke too last Saturday you can’t be asking about that way it was a good joke I appreciated it um you know I wanted to ask about that crowd reaction were you surprised at times to hear that Henry Henry Henry yeah yeah I mean I think I think allergy might be the real Hill dude I thought I was a hill for a minute I mean uh I’m I’m confused in that sense too and when it comes to Connor’s messages one of the things that he has said is that he believes you’re I mean you talked about your resume he was quite critical of your resume he said 16-2 in in MMA he said you’re in office in the game what’s your response to that yeah I do have you know for the amount of fights that I do have I am like like I haven’t been fighting like a lot of these other guys you know it just shows the levels of where I could get to me but look at the people who have beaten nope Demetrius TJ you know what I mean uh dominant Cruz you know after a three-year layoff I had a split you know I lost a split decision to the current champ now if I decide to make this run I will reclaim that bout again you know but like I said before like my my goal is my goal is to go up to 145 pounds like that’s where that’s kind of where I draw the line you know thank you Kennedy over here um apron percentage um foreign foreign [Music] guys I’ve been doing this since age 11 to age 33 at the highest level and won everything I’ve ever desired to do I’m not out here for the crowds I’m not I’m not out here I’m not even though I portray that on the cameras I’m not out here yeah I may Flex on it I’m out here to make history and if I can’t make history I’m not I’m not doing this like that’s all that’s how that’s how much of a competitor that I’m just telling my coach like yeah you won you won but I didn’t win the battle’s not around my waist you know and and I just gotta talk to my family talk to my wife and then just take it from there it has nothing to do with anybody has nothing to do with ego it just has to do with me you know it’s like trying to climb out Everest and you don’t do it you know you either do it or you don’t that’s it um so fiores [Music] is simultaneous [Laughter] be honest you’re my friend yeah it wasn’t a robbery could have gone either way but I had you winning my Hebrew brother question for you you’re the ultimate competitor how does this feeling compare to the first DJ fight wow DJ me up the first time we fought um this feels more like the Benavides fight or uh I lost and people say hey dude you won bro like I feel that feeling again but I but the Bow’s not around my waist small you know what I’m saying and I think that’s what uh you guys could Pat me on the back or tell me that it was a close fight oh yeah I thought you won blah blah blah but where’s my belt you’re always adjusting and changing things taking it fight to fight is there anything you would have done differently I know it’s fresh in your mind but is there anything you would have done differently leading up to this fight if you could have done it over again what kind of slip away he kind of stoled it after I had taken him down I relaxed a little too much Against the Cage I probably should have respected his cage a little bit more I was trying to catch a breather in there just to kind of you know catch my threshold and be good but handed up still in it little things like that man that kind of bothered me because that’s the stuff that I hit on people you know and lastly now that he has a victory over you where would you put algae main Sterling amongst the all-time bantamweights in UFC history yeah you beat the Triple C what about number one you have to man I mean look at the people that he’s beating already yes they give us a rematch there we go question for you Henry on your left far left um the counter wrestling was excellent he wasn’t able to get in any real shots on you you’re able to stuff I think pretty much all of them or at least made him had to chain a few things I noticed you weren’t doing a whole lot of offensive wrestling initiating the wrestling exchanges was that on purpose or did that just that was the flow of the fight was a game plan how’d that play out no okay because I noticed that eligible he likes to take breathers like when he’s on bottom if you even notice when I was on top of them like I kind of I made him get up I’m like because he’ll do certain things or he’ll be on bottom and he’ll just chill out he’ll just hang he’ll stall out there so to me it was like I I was going to start with the takedowns if I was able to fatigue them and really break them down and then bring the takedowns in and then really get on top of them and start hurting them but if I wasn’t doing that I got to keep it on my feet because it’s not enough because you will catch his breather so that’s kind of more of where the game plan was kind of going for like for me you know just suggesting and uh I had I wanted to break him down first before I started really picking up and bringing that wrestling and I wasn’t doing that you know what do you mean by that I wasn’t I didn’t hurt him enough to really do that so take my chances of my feet to really solidify something or win the rounds out like I said man he’ll catch his breathers like I’ve seen it with yawn and I’ve seen it with a lot of these other Fighters would perhaps a breather not maybe have won you around for him for you one you around if you’re on top and he’s just stalling out I just didn’t know I just didn’t know how the card I just didn’t know how the rounds were so I just I just I gotta go back and re-watch that fight like everything’s kind of a blur a little bit Henry over here uh congratulations on a tremendous performance especially three years away he looked like uh you never stepped away uh is it hard being the competitor that you are to see the positives I mean you guys packed this house sold out crowd broke records you performed like you didn’t take a step away from the cage um is it hard to see the positives right now just being the compare that you are yeah it is hard it is hard it is hard but I like I said man I gotta go back rewatch that fine and just take it from there you know I I know there’s a better version to me but you know take risks man go in there and try to scrap you know like the only thing I can promise is my best and my best wasn’t enough I ran into your buddy Nick and we were getting a loss in the arena trying to find uh his four seats but uh nevertheless we talked uh it just seems like you’re a perfectionist you get to the highest level of the sport wrestling and MMA being that perfectionist uh it are you is this gonna just take time for you to get back get acclimated to you’re a perfectionist obviously being a father a husband like living this life and navigating these new steps in life that you have taken is it just gonna take time just to you know balance everything out and find a way to be a perfectionist in all these different areas of your life especially being a newfound father yeah and it is different and there’s one thing that I will say that I never planned on doing is fighting when I had kids because to be the best in the world is you have to be so selfish and when I’m in fight camera you have to be social selfish it’s all about you it is it to me it was a bit different with the family but there’s no excuse you know what I’m saying because there’s there’s love and there’s other motivations that comes with that stuff but uh that’s kind of where I stand anyways who got the bonus did we get a bonus for now no thank you Henry you you were talking about the benavidez fight before how long did it take you to kind of process that defeat you know which you obviously you kind of have people saying okay we think you won but you didn’t feel like you won how long did it take you to process that do you think that maybe it’ll play out similarly for you here yeah maybe maybe I just think because it’s been three years and I’ve been able to help a lot of people um you know do some amazing things and make certain adjustments for them that it’s been uh it’s just different man it’s like you can’t you can’t serve two masters you know and I I have to make that decision because if I’m in full time on what if I’m gonna do this and I’m in full time you know or I just can’t dabble into both you know like I said guys like my biggest thing is I want it all if I can’t have it all I don’t want none of it and I mean that you were talking about earlier in the week you guys were planning on doing some stuff in the city maybe go get this piece and that kind of thing is this the type of thing where maybe you change plans are you still going to try and do some family stuff and try to get out there and move away from this at least temporarily yeah of course man like it’s uh I I owe it to my wife I owe it to my family you know I’m going to Brazil here in uh in a couple in a few days we’re gonna enjoy the city a little bit you know Pizza might be a little bitter but you know we’re gonna we’re gonna enjoy it like Henry just got one for you on your left so I know there was a lot of talk about the grappling between him and D3 and all that stuff but once you got in there and now that it’s done you just talk about how close of a matchup it really was those grappling exchanges were pretty nice to see and really close yeah what was uh what were the takedown ratios I don’t even know I don’t know I don’t know the stats off the top of my head that’ll help Wi-Fi is struggling yeah what do you think Mike what’d you think of the fight cave side I thought you were up 3-1 going into the fifth but that was only one angle no replays anything like that so it’s kind of hard to see um but that first round was very close and I think the back take was a big piece of it uh takedowns he was credited with four you’re credited with three he had 135 significant strikes he had 99. uh control time you had five minutes he had four okay so I won [Laughter] yeah uh yeah do The Duda either way to you’re a wrestler you know what I’m saying like he was able of course dude you know if he was able to he did say something um if I’m able to lock my hands it’s different and then I thought that was just like 79 00:22:00,359 –> 00:22:03,58 you know what I mean like I sure enough taken it that I should have just you know could have defended a little earlier rather than just kind of just hanging out but sometimes I’ll I’ll leave people there so they can carry my weight to fatigue you know and I’ll do that and that’s from wrestling all these years that he was able to kind of carry that gas tank you know and uh I think that’s where it was at for him it was it was his threshold I wasn’t expecting him to continue to keep coming like that did a good job dude did a good job hey Triple C back here quick one for me um they just posted the score card and in the fifth round the same judge that scored your fight against Joseph benavidez for benavidez was the one that scored um it for algro in the fifth round who is it what’s his name by the way I mean according to the scorecards Derek clearly oh he’s got something I don’t know if I owe money I don’t know what I just don’t know guys I mean it is what it is I gotta re-watch that fight and then if they want to give another title shot let’s do it all right yeah thank you guys so much dude I really appreciate it man you know I tried to put you know try to make everything entertaining dude and uh I appreciate you guys I really do man sincerely it’s been three years and it’s because I come back but coming back I’m just like man it’s you guys are diehards too not just like us so I appreciate I appreciate each and every one of you I’m out