Henry Cejudo made some lofty claims after claiming the bantamweight title with an impressive win over Marlon Moraes at UFC 238 on Saturday night, declaring himself to be the Greatest Of-All Time in combat sports.
Certainly Cejudo’s accomplishments are impressive – having won an Olympic gold medal in wrestling, before transitioning to become a two-weight champion at both flyweight and bantamweight, defeating the likes of Demetrious Johnson, TJ Dillashaw and now Moraes along the way.
However, that’s not yet enough to convince UFC president Dana White that he’s the G.O.A.T.
“I heard he also said he’s the pound for pound best in the world,” White told reporters at the post-fight press conference. “Listen, it’s awesome that he believes in himself like that and he’s so confident. But you gotta be realistic. You’ve got Jon Jones out there. Khabib’s never lost, he’s undefeated. And look at the guys these guys have run through, and look at how long Jon Jones has defended his title. Yeah, so…”
“Wouldn’t Jon Jones be the best combat sports athlete of all time? Probably? Yeah,” White continued. “There’s so many people out there. How about Amanda Nunes? She beat every big name out there. Khabib… you know how hard it is to go undefeated? And he’s in a nasty divisino too. Sugar Ray Robinson. Yeah, that’s a tough one to claim. There’s been a lot of bad human beings out there.
“Look at Shevchenko. Look what she’s doing right now, where she’s headed. It’s tough to call yourself the greatest right now, let alone the greatest to ever live,” White said. “I like his spirit though.”
With all that being said, White was clearly impressed by Cejudo’s performance on Saturday night, saying that he was “blown away” by it and that he’d “never doubt” the fighter again.
