Henry Cejudo defends ref stoppage at UFC on ESPN+ 1
“If I was to talk to that ref, ‘You’re okay, man. We were both in there. We saw him go limp a few times.’ Watch it again and you’ll see it.”
Referee Kevin McDonald had the best seat in the house at the main event of UFC on ESPN+ 1 on Saturday night, and he stopped the fight in 32 seconds. Although there was a degree of controversy around the stoppage, Dillashaw’s face looked like he went three rounds. Unsurprisingly, Dillashaw complained bitterly about the bout ending so soon. And unsurprisingly, Henry Cejudo said the stoppage was fair, and why.
It was a great stoppage because I felt his body go limp, said Cejudo as transcribed by Alexander K. Lee for MMA Fighting. You guys have to understand I weighed in at 146 pounds when I fought him. Strong, and you could see it. Every blow that he took, he was eating some hammers. Personally, I thought it was a good stoppage because he was going to take another 10, 20 hits.
When your body goes limp like that, when you cut weight like that, thinking you’re gonna go out there and just take my belt from me, that’s not the way it works. So I think it was a great stoppage. This is why MMA is sanctioned now because of refs. If I was to talk to that ref, ‘You’re okay, man. We were both in there. We saw him go limp a few times.’ Watch it again and you’ll see it.
I think partially what makes T.J. good is the fact that he is a sore loser. So am I. But you know what, at least I’m able to accept it and get better from it.
I saw he was hurt since the beginning, I thought it was that kick that really kind of rattled him. I’m going to have to re-watch that fight, but I could tell, I saw him going limp, I saw his body changing. I shoved him down. If you shove somebody down, they’re hurt. If I do this to you and you’re just ***acts dazed*** come on.
This win was not just for me but for every flyweight out there that wanted the opportunity to fight for a world title someday. I put him on the mat. I beat — I know he may not accept it from what I’m hearing — but I beat the greatest bantamweight of all time. And this is a flyweight, these are the guys that are boring ***laughs***.
Cejudo win very well may have saved the flyweight division, but immediately after the fight, he offered Dillashaw a rematch, at bantamweight. At the post-fight press conference, he explained why.
Because I gave him the opportunity, said Cejudo. I gave him the opportunity, part of it too is it is added to my legacy. I’ve done things from the Olympics to defeating two of the greatest fighters of all time. I feel like now, it’s okay guys, I think I have the right to say, ‘Hey, give me a shot. Allow me to keep this belt at 125 pounds. You can get your rematch, but let’s do it at 135 pounds. Give me a shot now.’
The champ loses his juice. He’s going to fight somebody, he’s going to go defend his title at 135 pounds and he’s got a loss underneath me. That doesn’t make any sense, right? Or maybe? I don’t know. I’m just happy.
There’s gonna be a lot of naysayers, ‘Oh, you didn’t beat D.J.’ and now, ‘They stopped it too early with T.J.’ It’s like, ‘God, when am I gonna get the respect that I need, that I deserve? When? When?’ But it doesn’t even bother me no more because I’ve got the credentials to prove it and that’s all there is to it.