Henry Cejudo has had his issues with the flyweight division. The talented former 2008 Olympic gold medal-winning wrestler was able to successfully make weight in the 55 kg division (121 pounds) without too much trouble en route to become the youngest American to ever capture gold in the Summer Olympics. But making weight hasn’t been so easy since he switched to mixed martial arts following a failed Olympic trials bid in 2012. Believe it not, Cejudo has yet to successfully make weight for the flyweight division since first attempting the cut in the fall of 2013. Cejudo first missed weight for his bout against Ryan Hollis for Legacy FC 24 in Octobrer of 2013, forcing the bout to be held at a 128 pound catchweight. He was then pulled from the Legacy FC 25 co-main event a month later after weight-cutting issues forced him out of the bout just over 24 hours prior to the show. After missing weight again in January of 2014, coming in again at a 128 pound catchweight to battle Elias Garcia, he would be signed by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to compete in the flyweight division. Once again, Cejudo had issues with his weight cut for his official UFC debut against Scott Jorgensen and was pulled from the fight due to medical reasons on the day of the UFC 177 weigh-ins on August 29, 2014. UFC President Dana White announced that Cejudo would have to compete in the bantamweight division if he wanted to remain on the roster. Cejudo made his official UFC debut against Dustin Kimura at UFC on Fox 13, competing in the bantamweight division (135 pounds), where he won a convincing unanimous decision and showed off some spectacular boxing skills. In his post-fight speech, Cejudo plead his case to White, begging for another chance to make the flyweight division. The Arizona-native got his wish and will once again be attempting to make his UFC flyweight debut this Friday night. Since his fight against former title challenger Chris Cariaso is a non-title bout, Cejudo will have a one-pound allowance to make the flyweight limit at 126 pounds. MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas provided the opening line for Several Bookmakers on the prop of whether or not Cejudo make weight this Friday night:
Henry Cejudo – UFC 185 Weigh In – Fox Sports 1 Friday March 13, 2015: Weight on first announced attempt on scale, further attempts do not apply Henry Cejudo weighs OVER 126.01 pounds +235 Henry Cejudo weighs UNDER 126.01 pounds -315
The most interesting thing about this line is the condition that Cejudo must make weight on his first attempt. This includes if Cejudo misses weight and has to remove any shorts or underwear. If that happens, it would count as an OVER 126.01 pounds. Fighters are also usually given an extra two hours to successfully make weight if they fail the first time around. Most recently at UFC 184 two weekends ago, Mark Munoz failed to make weight on his first attempt but was successful his second time around. If these same odds were provided on Munoz, he would have his the OVER due to the failed first attempt. If the stakes weren’t high enough already for the former Olympic champion, the pressure is now definitely on Cejudo to make weight this Friday night.
