Henry Cejudo
Olympic Result: Gold, 2008
Bend the knee for Triple C, a.k.a. The King of Cringe.
In all honesty, if you include his U.S. National Championship and Pan American Championship gold medals, Cejudo is a lot more than “triple” C. He owns more precious metal than a California mine during the Gold Rush. In 2008, prior to becoming a UFC double-champ, Cejudo won gold in freestyle wrestling at 55kg.
Frankly, 2008 was a big year for wrestlers who would go on to compete in the UFC. That same U.S. wrestling team would feature Ben Askren and Daniel Cormier, while Ronda Rousey was doing her thing in judo. Steve Mocco, who would briefly fight for the WSOF, was also on the wrestling team that year, placing 7th at 120kg.
Cejudo would later become the first man to beat Demetrious Johnson at flyweight, then earned a bantamweight title to his collection as well. After retiring for a spell, he returned to action in 2023, but suffered back-to-back losses to Aljamain Sterling (for 135lb gold) and then Merab Dvalishvili (who would go on to win that same title, from Sean O’Malley last month).
