Henry Cejudo stands by his criticism towards Tom Aspinall’s interim title celebration.
Cejudo mocked Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) for breaking down in tears after finishing Sergei Pavlovich to claim the interim heavyweight belt at UFC 295. Cejudo argued that the interim title doesn’t hold weight like an undisputed title, and that it was an overreaction.
Daniel Cormier came to Aspinall’s defense. He said like Cejudo, Aspinall worked his entire life for one goal and should be emotional after achieving such a feat on short notice.
“Henry Cejudo, man, I like the guy,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “I do. But this dude has never been more wrong. Henry said, ‘Tom Aspinall shouldn’t have been as emotional to become the champion. It’s not the real belt.’ It’s not fair. Henry Cejudo became the UFC champion because he’s a tremendous athlete and he is just a winner. He’s just a winner. But Henry Cejudo was not groomed to be UFC champion.
“Henry Cejudo was groomed to be the Olympic wrestling champion, and he did that. And when he did that, he cried. and he was excited and he was the champ and it felt like he had accomplished the world. That’s what Tom Aspinall did. Why? because it’s all he’s been training to do… Interim or not, they’re wrapping 12 pounds of gold around his belt. So, he got emotional. That feels as real to him as that Olympic gold medal put around Henry’s Cejudo’s neck back in Beijing.”
Cejudo clapped back at Cormier for comparing his Olympic gold medal win to Aspinall’s interim title, saying you can’t put the two accolades in the same sentence.
“So DC man, you’re tearing on your Olympic teammate,” Cejudo said on Twitter. “You turned against the greatest combat athlete of all time. But you know what, DC? I love it. If I was to win an Olympic silver medal, do you think you would see me running around? Do you think you would see my crying? You think that I would have wanted to pick up that American flag and represent all of us?
“An interim belt just means you’re the No. 1 contender, and for all you soft people that don’t like that – including Tom Aspinall because yeah, I will say this, it was too much. Save those tears. Save those tears for if you can beat a guy like Jon Jones. If you can truly beat the greatest of all time and say you are a world champion. First of all, congratulations to Tom. But, at the same time you’re the No. 1 contender. Interim belts mean nothing. They mean nothing.”
Hey DC, nobody asked for your 2 chins. Even though the belt couldn’t fit around your waist, it was still undisputed. Tom, congrats on being the best Side-Chick in the UFC. https://t.co/WXFNeC8hfu pic.twitter.com/Jo3DR1AirX
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) November 18, 2023