Henry Cejudo is pulling back the curtains from the “Triple C” persona that he adopted for himself after becoming a two-division UFC champion.
It’s often been said that the UFC is not just about the sport of combat. It’s also a business and thus has always prioritized entertainment.
One man who has exemplified that reality is former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo.
There are other fighters like Colby Covington who have been accused of playing a character for the sake of promoting their brand, but “Chaos” has always maintained that what you see is what you get and that his brash personality is his authentic self just cranked up to its maximum voltage.
During a face-to-face interview with Aljamain Sterling hosted by Daniel Cormier (DC), Cejudo was willing to do what Covington and professional wrestlers of the kayfabe era have historically refrained from doing: open up on the ‘character’ that he plays.
“Even that whole ‘Cringe’ persona that I kinda pursued, that is me. I just turned the volume up,” Cejudo said in a statement that mirrors some of Covington’s previous rhetoric. Cejudo would go on to elaborate on the rationale behind the persona.
“It’s an annoying character that like, ‘Man, shut the fuck up!’ But at the same time, you can’t deny what he’s done…
“Even me pulling out the pillows, DC, fuckin’ whippin’ that snake, I need pressure, DC. If I don’t feel pressure in whatever sense, it’s hard for me to really get up, you know what I mean? I gotta add that extra thing.”
The pressure for Cejudo will potentially be at its boiling point when he makes his expected return to the Octagon as soon as this year. If all goes according to plan, his comeback tour will begin with the man who was sitting directly across from him as he uttered the above comments: Aljamain “FunkMaster” Sterling!
Are you a fan of the “Triple C” persona?