Henry Cejudo

Henry Cejudo (in the blue jersey) 2005

Henry Cejudo (born February 9, 1987 in Los Angeles ) is an American wrestler . He became Olympic champion in Beijing in 2008 in free style in bantamweight (up to 55 kg body weight).

Career

Henry Cejudo is the son of Mexican immigrants to the United States. The Cejudo family became a Los Angeles resident. It was there that Henry Cejudo, together with his older brother Angel, who, like Henry, now belongs to the US national freestyle wrestling team, began wrestling in 1999. After he was able to achieve great successes as a junior in the national field, he switched to the most renowned American wrestling club, the Sunkist Kids Phönix . He also moved his residence to Colorado Springs to train in the American wrestler's center there. His coach there was former world champion Terry Brands . Henry Cejudo only wrestles in free style. He is only 1.63 m tall and weighs around 60 kg. For the big international championships he trains in the bantam weight (up to 55 kg body weight).

Henry Cejudo was a very successful high school wrestler and was named ASICS National High School Wrestler (Wrestler) of the Year in 2006. In 2006 he was also the first US champion in the senior bantamweight division. As a junior finished a year earlier, at his first start at an international championship, at the bantamweight championship in Vilnius, 5th place. The winner there was Bessik Kuduchow from Russia . Henry Cejudo missed the semi-finals due to a narrow point defeat against the Iranian Mustafa Aghajaniozonbalagh.

At the Pan American Championships in Rio de Janeiro in 2006 , he then won his first international championship title. He won there in bantamweight before Luis Alexander Ibanez Rojas from Cuba a . Fredy Serrano from Colombia . In the same year he was also vice world champion in the juniors in Guatemala City in bantamweight . He lost the fight for the championship title against Jamal Otarsultanov from Russia.

In 2007 Henry Cejudo was again the American bantamweight champion. He also won again at the Pan American Championships in San Salvador . He referred Fredy Serrano, Cesar Roberty from Venezuela and Andy Moreno from Cuba to the places. At the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, the bantamweight winner was Henry Cejudo. He won in front of Andy Moreno, Cesar Roberty and Fredy Serano, the same wrestlers as in the Pan American Championship, only in a different order.

At the 2007 World Cup in Baku , his first senior world championship in which he was used, he met the Iranian Taghi Dadashi in the first fight and was defeated on points. Since Dadashi did not reach the final, Henry Cejudo was eliminated and only came in 31st place.

Despite this disappointment, he went full of vigor into the year 2008, which did not start well for him, because he lost in the USA bantamweight championship to Matt Azevedo and only finished 2nd. For this he won the tournament (Trials) in Colorado Springs, which was decisive for the nomination of the wrestlers for the Olympic Games in Beijing, in the final battle against the silver medalist from the 2004 Olympic Games, Stephen Abas, and thus won the Olympic ticket. Shortly before the Olympics, Henry Cejudo was Pan American bantamweight champion for the third time in Colorado Springs ahead of Andy Moreno, John Pineda, Canada and Cesar Roberty.

The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing turned out to be a great moment in Henry Cejudo's career. He won the gold medal in the bantamweight there. On the way to this medal he defeated Radoslaw Velikow from Bulgaria , the 2006 world champion, Besarion Gochashvili from Georgia , Namig Sewdimow from Azerbaijan and in the final battle Tomohiro Matsunaga from Japan , where he did not give a round against Matsunaga.

Henry Cejudo has been fighting in the UFC since July 25th. He is the title holder in the flyweight and bantamweight classes.

International success

(OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship, F = free style, Ba = bantam weight, up to 55 kg body weight)

• 2005, 5th place , Junior World Championships in Wilna , F, Ba, behind Bessik Kuduchow , Russia , Yasuhiro Inaba, Japan , Farchand Urazimbetow, Uzbekistan u. Mustafa Aghajaniozonbalagh, Iran ;
• 2006, 1st place , Pan American Championship in Rio de Janeiro , F, Ba, in front of Luis Alexander Ibanez Rojas, Cuba , Fredy Serrano, Colombia a . Antonio Gonzalez, Panama ;
• 2006, 2nd place , Junior World Championships in Guatemala City , F, Ba, behind Dschamal Otarsultanow , Russia and in front of Nurhan Turabek, Kyrgyzstan a . Svetoslav Nejchev , Bulgaria ;
• 2007, 3rd place , World Cup in Krasnoyarsk , F, Ba, behind Jamal Otarsultanow u. Adalam Achilow, Uzbekistan, ahead of Alexander Galagan, Ukraine ;
• 2007, 1st place , Pan American Championship in San Salvador , F, Ba, ahead of Fredy Serrano, Cesar Roberty, Venezuela u. Andy Moreno , Cuba;
• 2007, 1st place , Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, F, Ba, in front of Andy Moreno, Cesar Roberty u. Fredy Serrano;
• 2007, 31st place , World Championships in Baku , G, Ba; Winner: Bessik Kuduchow ahead of Naranbaatar Bayana , Mongolia , Andy Moreno u. Ryswan Hadschyjeu , Belarus ;
• 2008, 1st place , Pan American Championship in Colorado Springs, F, Ba, in front of Andy Moreno, John Pineda, Canada u. Cesar Roberty;
• 2008, gold medal , OS in Beijing , F, Ba, ahead of Tomohiro Matsunaga , Japan, Bessik Kuduchow u. Radoslav Velikov

USA championships

• 2006, 1st place, F, Ba,
• 2007, 1st place, F, Ba,
• 2008, 2nd place, F, Ba, behind Matt Azevedo

USA Olympic Elimination (Trials)

• 2008, 1st place, F, Ba, ahead of Stephen Abas

swell

• Trade journal Der Ringer from 2005 to 2008,
• US Wrestling Association website,
• Website "www.iat-uni-leipzig.de"

Web links

• Profile of Henry Cejudo at the Institute for Applied Exercise Science