Donald Trump makes UFC legend Henry Cejudo’s ‘reality better than dream’ at NCAA wrestling championship

MAGA supporter Henry Cejudo met Donald Trump during last Saturday's NCAA Division I Wrestling National Finals in Philadelphia.

Donald Trump makes UFC legend Henry Cejudo’s ‘reality better than dream’ at NCAA wrestling championship

Henry Cejudo shakes and daps up with Donald Trump at NCAA Division I Wrestling National finals (Source: X/IMAGO)

Thrice-GOP nominee and last-time POTUS Donald Trump has always been a combat sports fan. Recently, Trump attended the 2025 NCAA Division I Wrestling National Championships at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Saturday. There, he got to talk with wrestling enthusiast, Olympian, and UFC bantamweight Henry Cejudo.

Elon Musk, Judiciary Committee chair, and two-time NCAA national champ Jim Jordan also visited the NCAA Division I Wrestling National finals. Donald Trump even went viral with his signature air pump to the chants of “USA!” at the venue. Afterward, Cejudo met him at the apron and even posted the video on socials.

Awesome catching up with the President @realdonaldtrump at the 2025 NCAA Wrestling championships. I can honestly say my reality is better than my dream! #MAGA

Henry Cejudo via X (@HenryCejudo)

Trump’s association with UFC headman Dana White and his fighting lineup is well documented. White was even a three-time RNC and GOP Victory speaker for the then President-elect. Donald Trump even tagged him in his post-COVID Republican Business task force. The 78-year-old maverick also got support from many within UFC when he was indicted on 34 counts of falsification and a 2016 hush payment worth $130K.

Now, Trump finds another accord in his latest non-UFC combat sports-focus trip. Henry Cejudo is among those in the ranks who support the President. The staunch supporter has been in many GOP Republican rallies before; sometimes at the cost of his own rep (he’s a New Mexico-Arizona migrant). However, ‘Triple C’ remains a close ally; the duo even talked about collegiate wrestlers transitioning.

NCAA men’s wrestling roster in UFC? Henry Cejudo and POTUS get their thinking hats on

USA Collegiate wrestling does not make it big, or at least hasn’t yet, in the UFC. Not like other freestyle wrestling and combat Sambo routines. Henry Cejudo himself was a CHSAA alum and later Dream Team All-American. The wrestler even had big wins over NCAA champ Jason Powell and three-time All-American Tanner Gardner.

Henry Cejudo and Donald Trump talked NCAA and UFC some more
Henry Cejudo and Donald Trump talked NCAA and UFC some more (Source: X)

Other than the #9 UFC bantamweight, Olympian Daniel Cormier was in NCAA Division I wrestling. His rival, Jon Jones, touted an NJCAA wrestling nationals scrap at Iowa Central Community College. Chael Sonnen also boasted the All-American and PAC-10 runner-up honors; his student Colby Covington had the PAC-10, NCAA tournament (junior/senior), and other such stripes.

One big recent name to make the transition into UFC is Penn State alum Bo Nickal, a close acquaintance and golfing buddy of the POTUS. However, other than such singled-out names who made it big or challenged for gold, the UFC lineup doesn’t have ‘mass’ wrestlers. Not like Sambo practitioners.

Hence, during the NCAA Division I Wrestling National finals, Donald Trump asked Cejudo if the American wrestlers could transfer over to UFC. The fighter had to touch on some of the insights of what it meant. See the interaction below:

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Trump also urged if ‘Triple C’ had some more UFC appearances left in him. Cejudo said that he might, at least ‘one’. So, there might be something on the block to look out for. Even though former peers have presented that he has achieved all he should and need not lace up anymore.

When is Henry Cejudo fighting next?

Cejudo recently lost a UFC Seattle event headliner outing (UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs. Song). The double-eye-poke in Round Three caused the Team Fight Ready wrestler to call it quits, hoping he was trailing on scorecards. However, after timing in a fourth-round affair, he lost a lopsided decision to Song Yadong.

This marks a rare three-fight slump for the former two-division champion. A frustrated Cejudo has already called to run things back with Yadong. If the brass is not interested, he’s willing to hash it out with fellow former champ Petr Yan.

Yan is basking in a UD win over “God of War” Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC Macau. He even recently teased a ‘miss me’ kind-of text right after Cejudo’s UFC Fight Night 252 event fallout. As of now, Cejudo has no next fight booking or any tease on socials.

Related: Is USA Wrestling effective? Chael Sonnen sadly admits ‘tough wrestlers’ isn’t enough to become UFC champions