On September 26, Miami’s James L. Knight Arena will feature an intriguing combat sports crossover when former two-division UFC champion and 2008 Olympic freestyle wrestling gold medalist Henry Cejudo makes his boxing debut under the Misfits Boxing banner. The 39-year-old combat icon is set to share the ring with 25-year-old Nurideen Deen the Great
Shabazz, a prominent figure in crossover boxing who is aiming to bounce back from a decision loss in December.
A Multi-Discipline Pivot for Triple C
Cejudo’s shift toward Misfits Boxing comes after his second retirement from mixed martial arts, which followed a unanimous decision loss to Payton Talbott at UFC 323 in December. Rather than walking away from competition altogether, Cejudo promptly returned to freestyle wrestling under the Real American Freestyle (RAF) banner. He earned a win over fellow UFC veteran Urijah Faber at RAF 6 in February before dropping a points decision to Merab Dvalishvili at RAF Georgia in July. With an RAF 12 rematch against Dvalishvili scheduled for Cleveland ahead of his fall fight, Cejudo’s move into striking revisits a discipline with roots going back to his victory at the 2010 Arizona State Copper Gloves amateur tournament.
Analyzing Shabazz and Misfits Ring Dynamics
In Shabazz, Cejudo encounters an opponent well-accustomed to the atmosphere of Misfits events. Owning a 7-1 record in exhibition matches, the 25-year-old made his promotional debut in 2022 with a first-round knockout victory over Stuart Kellog. Shabazz followed that performance with a knockout victory in his first professional bout against Walid Muhsein later that year, along with an exhibition win over Shazan Idrees at Brandrisk Promotions 4 in February of last year. However, his unblemished run was halted at Misfits Mania in December, where he fell via unanimous decision to Amado Vargas, son of former world champion Fernando Vargas.
Championship Lineage and Retrospective Context
Cejudo holds one of the most remarkable resumes in modern combat sports. After dropping his initial flyweight championship bid to Demetrious Johnson in 2016, Cejudo secured the flyweight title in their UFC 227 rematch via split decision. He retained the title with a 32-second knockout over T.J. Dillashaw before stepping up to bantamweight at UFC 238, stopping Marlon Moraes for the vacant belt to become one of only four simultaneous two-division champions in UFC history.
While secondary accounts have occasionally misattributed his subsequent bantamweight title defense against Dominick Cruz to UFC 329, official promotional records document that Cejudo defeated Cruz at UFC 249 in Jacksonville, Florida, before announcing his initial retirement. Returning three years later, Cejudo fell just short of reclaiming bantamweight gold in a split-decision loss to Aljamain Sterling before subsequent decision losses to Dvalishvili, Song Yadong, and Talbott brought a close to his octagon career.
Sources
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- si.com original
- deportesbereavision.tv original
- mmafighting.com original
