Henry Cejudo
Henry Cejudo reveals how he almost signed with WWE
Several prominent UFC fighters have made the transition to WWE over the years. Many famous fighters have chosen the squared circle over the Octagon, including Ken Shamrock, Dan Severn, and Ronda Rousey. Wrestlers and other celebrities in the wrestling industry have also dabbled in mixed martial arts.
One of the UFC’s most decorated fighters recently said they were close to signing with WWE in an interview.
Henry Cejudo, former UFC two-division champion, told Chamatkar Sandhu he was almost signed by the sports entertainment company before withdrawing his name from consideration:
“Before I signed with UFC, we were in talks with WWE. I was going to be The Atomic Flea. I had thought about signing, I had talked to Jerry Brisco at that time. They were going to fly me out to Orlando and do that whole trial stuff. It did intrigue me, but at the same time, I knew that if I’m going to use my body, I might as well fight and do the real stuff. Not saying that the WWE isn’t real, it’s 100% real, but I’m talking competitively. I never wanted to travel like crazy. I didn’t want to get thrown like Rey Mysterio. I didn’t want my body to break.”
“If I was to do the WWE or AEW, I would like to do a one-off. I don’t see myself doing that stuff for a very long time even though I do believe I could be really good at it. I worked out with Chavo Guerrero. He’s given me lessons. He’s like, ‘Bro, you’re a natural.’ I grew up watching it, did amateur wrestling, and I fought. I understand the acting portion. There are things that come natural to me. Something like the WWE or AEW would be one of them.”
Now that Francis Ngannou has signed with the PFL, the idea of Jon Jones fighting him is just that: an idea.
Jones vs. Ngannou is arguably the biggest (in more ways than one) of the many fantastic fantasy matchups fans have longed to witness in MMA history. After a disappointing second title defense from 2018–2020, UFC light heavyweight champion Jones finally made the jump to heavyweight after teasing the move for a decade.
Jones took three years off to focus on his personal development, and during that time a lot transpired in the mixed martial arts world as well as in his own life. The primary reason Ngannou vs. Jones is being discussed so much is because Ngannou recently become the heavyweight champion with a thundering knockout of his former rival and legendary champion Stipe Miocic. Several negotiation problems and failed discussions ultimately resulted to the match never happening, and instead both fighters won titles in their most recent bouts against Ciryl Gane.
While Jones was on hiatus from competition, he began to train with some new people, including two-division champion and former UFC lightweight Henry Cejudo. In the end, “Triple C” doesn’t think the bout is significant to “Bones’” storied career in the sport:
“Getting a chance to know Jon, I don’t think Jon really cares. I don’t think Jon needs a guy like Francis Ngannou to be able to say that he is the greatest of all-time. The reality is Jon doesn’t need any of those guys. The guy he probably does want to beat is the greatest heavyweight of all-time, his name is Stipe Miocic. At the end of the day, people will look at the credentials, people will look at the numbers, and people will see that Stipe Miocic is the baddest heavyweight on the roster in UFC history. Numbers don’t lie. As a matter of fact, he has a win over Francis Ngannou … a domination that he had for five rounds.”
More MMA news
Follow our dedicated MMA page for instant MMA news and update