Henry Cejudo

Henry Carlos Cejudo (born February 9, 1987) is an American freestyle wrestler, Olympic gold medalist, mixed martial artist and author. He became an Olympic gold medalist at 21 years old, the youngest American wrestler to do so. Cejudo debuted in the bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship in December 2014 at UFC on Fox: dos Santos vs. Miocic. As of December 17, 2015, he is #3 in the official UFC flyweight rankings.

Background

Cejudo, the youngest of six children, was born on February 9, 1987, in South Central Los Angeles, California, to an undocumented Mexican mother. Cejudo’s father, who was frequently in and out of the California penal system, was absent from Henry’s life starting at a young age. In 1991, Henry’s mother made the decision to move to Las Cruces, New Mexico, to raise her six young children on her own. She frequently had to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. As a result, Henry’s early childhood was spent moving from state to state, until his family finally settled in Phoenix, Arizona.