JRE MMA Show #48 with Henry Cejudo & Eric Albarracin

Joe Rogan (0:05)

Boom, and we're live. Henry, motherfucking Cejudo.

World champ, and sir, introduce yourself to everybody. Captain America.

Eric Albarracin (0:14)

That's right, Captain Eric Albarracin.

Joe Rogan (0:17)

Henry's coach, what do you do with him specifically?

Eric Albarracin (0:21)

Well, I've been with him since 2004, and recently became his coach right before the first Demetrious Johnson fight, and I'm his head coach for MMA.

Joe Rogan (0:29)

And you're in disguise in case some other athletes try to swipe you.

Eric Albarracin (0:33)

And it's Halloween, happy Halloween, everybody.

Joe Rogan (0:35)

Happy Halloween, folks.

So first of all, man, congratulations on your victory. What does it feel like?

Henry Cejudo (0:43)

Oh, man, it feels good. It feels good.

Joe Rogan (0:46)

Try to keep this fist away from your face.

Henry Cejudo (0:48)

Yeah, it feels good because it's, God, I think as a competitor, you live for these moments. You live for these fulfillments, you know?

Joe Rogan (0:57)

Yeah.

Henry Cejudo (0:58)

I think somebody like, and then I told people since the beginning, there wasn't so much, you know, the UFC bell, but it was because it was, I made it about Demetrius and it was about Demetrius.

Joe Rogan (1:07)

Well, I mean, he is widely considered to be the best pound for pound fighter ever. And you're the first guy, not only to beat him, but the first guy who, not just to beat him, but beat him in like 11 years, but the first guy to win an Olympic gold medal in wrestling and a UFC championship.

I mean, those are two gigantic accomplishments.

Henry Cejudo (1:28)

Yeah, no, for sure. It's almost like, God, it's... I beat the greatest of... to me, the greatest of all time. And then on top of that, I can make the run for, you know, who's the greatest combat athlete of all time.

Like, I'm a two-sport world champion. I'm just like, damn, that's crazy.

Joe Rogan (1:45)

I mean, you're absolutely in the running now. I mean, if he's not the greatest of all time, I think he is. But the argument is that he didn't face people as good as John Jones faced. And then Fador and Anderson Silver are the other people that are in consideration for the greatest of all time.

I mean, it's just a subjective argument. I mean, who knows who's right? But obviously, you beat, without a doubt, one of the best ever.

Henry Cejudo (2:12)

Yeah, yeah. And like, I would tell people, there's a bit of admiration that I had for Demetrius Johnson. Like, I was...

It was like, you know, you're fighting a dude that's... that almost seems untouchable. A guy that makes you question yourself, like, whoa, this is... This guy is that good.

Joe Rogan (2:32)

Well, what's crazy is you beat him after he had stopped you, just... How long? Was it two years?

Henry Cejudo (2:39)

Close to about two and a half years ago now. Yeah, about... I think two years and like four months.

Joe Rogan (2:44)

That's an amazing turnaround between getting stopped in the first round and then coming back and beating him and then beating him in the championship rounds is really where you pulled it off.

Henry Cejudo (2:55)

Yeah, yeah, yeah, no. And absolutely. I had studied Demetrius Johnson. Like, as soon as I lost to him the first time, what I pretty much did is I got rid of a lot of people, including my MMA head coach.

I just... my whole philosophy was if I can't be the best, then there's something wrong. You know, emotionally, physically, everything else, just invested. And when I lost, I'm just like, man, I need to...

I'm looking for a better leader, you know? And that's kind of what I did. I ended up, you know, letting go a lot of my cornermen. You know, I started traveling the world.

Went out to Singapore, went out to Thailand, went out to the Netherlands, spent months and months at a time out in Brazil. Like, I was on a quest. It was like the... I kind of remind myself a little bit like Ash Ketchum from Pokemon. Like, I was just on a venture to do that to you.

Joe Rogan (3:48)

Vision Quest. Vision Quest. It was a Matthew Modine movie.

Every wrestler has to watch that movie.

Henry Cejudo (3:56)

And that's... And like I said, it became an exception. I knew that if anybody could do it, it'd be Henry Cejudo. Like, I really did. And even after the first time, Joe, when he beat me, I still... When he asked me, he's like, Henry, you know, like, I was like, guys, I don't know, but I still know that I could beat him. Even being knocked out, like, two minutes and 36 seconds.