UFC stars Israel Adesanya and Henry Cejudo recently shared a heartfelt moment, putting their past animosity aside during an appearance on Cejudo`s podcast, Pound 4 Pound, which he co-hosts with Kamaru Usman.
The history of bad blood between the two fighters dates back to September 2020, around UFC 253. Following his successful middleweight title defense against Paulo Costa, Adesanya had a heated confrontation with Costa`s cornerman, Eric Albarracin. Given that Albarracin is a close friend and coach of Cejudo, the incident prompted Cejudo to publicly criticize Adesanya. This escalated the tension, leading Adesanya to famously refer to Cejudo as a “little f*cking b*tch.”
Since that time, circumstances have significantly changed for both athletes. Adesanya has experienced fluctuations in his career, losing his middleweight title, regaining it, and then losing it once more. Cejudo, on the other hand, has struggled since returning from retirement and is contemplating stepping away from the sport again, particularly after suffering a difficult loss to Song Yadong that involved a serious eye poke.
During the podcast recording featuring Adesanya, Cejudo took a moment towards the end to address their previous conflict and offered a sincere apology.
“Thanks, Israel,” Cejudo said. “Thanks, man. I f*cking hated on you like you wouldn’t believe because haters are your biggest fans and what you’ve been able to do not being a f*cking wrestler, to me that’s impressive. Coming from the wrestling background, 85 percent of all champions have all come from the sport of wrestling, so what you’ve been able to do, f*ck, congratulations.
“I don’t know if it’s too late to say I’m sorry?”
Adesanya received the apology warmly, sharing a laugh with Cejudo and reflecting on the initial fallout.
“I only got salty because I was, like, ‘Man, we were cool in Australia. Why’d he start hating on me?’” Adesanya admitted. “And then I was a little bit maybe salty, but for me, I respect you because of your game. Your mind. I see the way you fight, I see the way you operate, and, man, one of the best ever.
“So thank you for saying that. And no need for apologies, it’s already been water under the bridge. I don’t hold on to grudges unless it pays to be petty, but this doesn’t, so I love you.”
The emotional tone of the exchange prompted Cejudo to inject some humor, jokingly asking if anyone had tissues.
Collectively, Adesanya, Cejudo, and Usman represent some of the most accomplished athletes in the history of combat sports. Adesanya has competed successfully in MMA, kickboxing, and boxing, holding the UFC middleweight title twice. Cejudo is an Olympic gold medalist in wrestling and is a former two-division UFC champion, holding belts at bantamweight and flyweight. Usman reigned as the UFC welterweight champion from 2019 to 2022 and holds the divisional record for the most consecutive victories with 15.
However, despite their impressive legacies, all three fighters have recently faced challenges, each having lost their last three fights – a fact Cejudo couldn`t resist making a lighthearted comment about.
