“No furniture, no Food,” Olympic Gold medalist Henry Cejudo reveals harsh childhood with 7 siblings

Henry Cejudo discussed his poverty-stricken childhood and the impact it had on his journey to becoming an Olympic Gold medalist and UFC champion on HJR Experiment.

“No furniture, no Food,” Olympic Gold medalist Henry Cejudo reveals harsh childhood with 7 siblings

Henry Cejudo on rough childhood (Image via: IMAGO)

Former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo is also an Olympic Gold medalist. Cejudo announced his retirement as a double champion and came back from retirement at UFC 288. However, he suffered a split decision loss to bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288. Cejudo, along with Quinton Rampage Jackson and Frank Mir, were recently on the HJR Experiment podcast.

On the podcast, Cejudo explained what he had to go through in his childhood. This is what he said.

I was a kid that went through famine, like, you know what I'm saying? One of seven kids. We were f*cking poor, like no furniture, like no food. It was that. It wasn't gang violence, like everybody talks about. You know, we come from a good family, but it was a very poor family.
Henry Cejudo via HJR Experiment
YouTube video

Cejudo had a rough childhood. Both his parents were Mexican immigrants who lived in Arizona. His mother raised him and his siblings as his father was in and out of prison due to substance abuse. Moreover, Cejudo’s father passed a year before he won the Gold medal in 57 kg Freestyle wrestling at the Beijing Olympics. The bantamweight contender is of the stern belief that his rough childhood was the reason that made him a successful wrestler and MMA fighter.

FS Video

Many consider Cejudo as one of the brightest minds in MMA. Elite contenders like Zhang Weili, Deivesion Figuerido, Demetrious Johnson, Jon Jones, and Jiri Prochazka have picked the brains of Cejudo in their fight camps. His upcoming fight is against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 298, headlined by Alexander Volkanovski and Ilia Topuria.

Henry Cejudo ponders retirement if unsuccessful at UFC 298

Bantamweight champion Sean O’Malley will have the first title defense at UFC 299 against Marlon Vera. O’Malley won the title at UFC 292 from Aljamain Sterling and called for a title shot with Vera, to which the UFC agreed. Fight fans considered Merab Dvalishvili to be the rightful contender, and thus, they criticized O’Malley’s callout. This moment made Henry Cejudo opportunistic enough to grab a fight with Dvalishvili.

Henry Cejudo
Henry Cejudo (Image via Imago)

He will likely get the next title shot if O’Malley defeats Dvalishvili at UFC 298. However, if he loses at UFC 298, Cejudo will retire, as revealed on the HJR Experience podcast. Cejudo has a family with a wife and two daughters. He stated that it is difficult to be in training camps while raising his young daughters. Moreover, getting a title shot will take a long time if he loses to Dvalishvili.

Cejudo is the only Olympic gold medalist to be a UFC champion. Kevin Jackson was the first Olympic gold medalist to compete in the UFC. Ronda Rousey was a Bronze medalist in Judo at the Beijing Olympics before she became a UFC champion. Yoel Romero, Mark O. Madsen, and Sara McCann are some of the other Olympic medalists who competed in the UFC. The aforementioned three were Silver medalists.

In case you missed it!