Henry Cejudo is the best athlete that MMA has ever had

[superpunch]

So many people were shocked when he beat Mighty Mouse. People still don't talk about him much. He's the best athlete that the sport has ever had.

Gold medalist in:

Olympics x1 at 21 years old
Pan American games x1
Pan American Championships x3
American national wrestling federation championships x1 while still in high school

Bronze in:

Wrestling world cup

 

[AyDeeDee]

He's a cool little manlet

 

[ralphus1]

True. But Killasnake KOs him easily.

 

[Sansnom]

 

[Gunther Green]

Romero and DC are far better athletes

Even in wrestling, they competed in absolutely stacked weight classes against all-time greats like Sanderson and Saitiev unlike Cejudo, and are more accomplished MMA fighters despite Yoel never winning a title

 

[Mahkor]

"beat" MM.

 

[Sapp]

Very good athlete but he did not compete in the most talent rich divisions in either wrestling or MMA.

 

[Mike Hagger]

If BJJ was an Olympic sport.

Souza would be a gold medalist.

He might not be champion but he's fought tougher talent at a higher weight. If grappling metric equate to athleticism then Souza is better.

But if grappling was the metric I'm assuming you'd rank Maia pretty high in athleticism? How about Couture?

I don't think grappling means you're a top athlete but I also think this whole argument is really a moot point but SD loves the 'athlete' debate...

 

[RonniePickering]

So many people were shocked when he beat Mighty Mouse. People still don't talk about him much. He's the best athlete that the sport has ever had.

Gold medalist in:

Olympics x1 at 21 years old
Pan American games x1
Pan American Championships x3
American national wrestling federation championships x1 while still in high school

Bronze in:

Wrestling world cup

 

[egk]

Most decorated ≠ most athletic.

 

[Sapp]

I think Yoel is clearly the best athletic talent MMA has ever seen. He was the best athlete when he competed in wrestling as well. Guy is in his fucking forties now and he still performs like this?

 

[AdamantiumPimmel]

in what discipline? decathlon? i don't think so.

 

[Lando]

Lmao at literal midget that competed in the worst talent pool division in the world being called best athlete

 

[EGarrett]

Winning a gold medal then winning a professional title is very, very standard for combat sports. There are actually at least 38 boxers who did that.

Holly Holm actually has a better resume. She won multiple boxing world titles and an MMA world title.

I really hate threads like this.

 

[podsox]

Hershel walker and it isn’t close

 

[Flokk]

 

[Zabit 145 Goat]

On paper he's up there for sure.
But then I look at Romero and forget how to read

 

[Lots]

Accomplishments don’t = A level athleticism

You guys need to start defining athleticism.

 

[Congo66]

Hershel walker and it isn’t close

He was 48 so no.

And with the wrestlers, are they the best athletes anyway? You'd have to define athlete.
In terms of participation levels wrestling is a tiny sport so being the best at it means you're the best of a very tiny group.

Matt Lindland and Yoel Romero got silver medals at the same Olympics (different weights and greco/freestyle).

Ray Mercer - Olympic gold medal in a much bigger sport than wrestling and a 100% record in MMA but he was ancient and his MMA career lasted less than 10s.

 

[Arrrrgh]

I scored MM winning the second fight but it was close and have no problem with cejudo winning. That said, beating MM in a very close decision after getting KO'd the last time they fought doesn't make him the better fighter. Perhaps he is the better athlete but I think that is a very subjective argument because there are very different types of high level athletes that are hard to compare head to head.

That said, I think Juiced Brock, juiced Jon Jones or Ubereem are the best athletes in MMA history. Perhaps Bob Sapp though his cardio, meh. Perhaps Juiced Big Foot. Perhaps Coleman. In terms of best athletes I am clearly more biased to the big guys. Cejudo would die if he fought any of them. Just saying.