Henry Cejudo’s suspicious praise for Nigerian former-UFC champion

Henry Cejudo’s plaudits were comparable to those given to former middleweight champion Israel Adesanya prior to his contest with Sean Strickland.

He blatantly emphasized the qualities of the Nigerian celebrity that he admired at the time.

Given Cejudo’s well-documented distaste for Adesanya, this compliment now seems questionable.

Following his defeat in that fight at UFC 293, Cejudo is one of the people urging Adesanya not to engage in a rematch right away. He said the following prior to the contest:

‘The biggest weapons that he does have are his kicks. So whether you’re southpaw or right-handed, he’s going to find a way to break your foundation and actually reach those legs,’ Cejudo had said. ‘He does a really good job of – even if you are a southpaw, like he will go with that lead leg to eventually kick you.’

It’s possible that Strickland took into account all of these references to Adesanya’s abilities in deciding the outcome of the contest. Adesanya has never been close with Henry Cejudo before to the game. Instead, he had offered to teach a few of Adesanya’s old rivals how to defeat the champion.

Due to the shocking defeat that occurred, this praise of his right before the match would appear suspect. One of the journalists who saw this commendation afterwards remarked that it was unusual.

One could speculate that the flattering remarks were perhaps designed to persuade the former champion to stick to his tried-and-true fighting style, which Daniel Cormier noted Strickland was expecting.

Sean Strickland denied Cormier the opportunity to use any of his signature techniques, according to Cormier.

Strickland simply needed to be too close to Adesanya for him to have the opportunity to employ his long-range kicks that knocked Alex Pereira to the ground or to unleash left hooks.

After the game, when I look back on this adulation, it almost seems silly. In real terms, it resembles an obvious trap.

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“A lot of people, when the lights are actually bright, they don’t actually show up,’ Cejudo had continued.

‘I will tell you somebody who will always show up: It’s this man (Adesanya) right here. He comes to fight, and he comes to win.

‘All that is because of all those five-round fights that he’s had, and obviously taking losses and coming back and actually winning.

That’s what makes Israel special.’

It’s probable that Adesanya is having second thoughts and would prefer to try something different than using his signature style versus Strickland right now.

However, he might not be expecting what he would do this time as he wasn’t expecting what Strickland did.