Henry Cejudo will be the third Olympic gold medalist to compete for UFC after signing a promotional contract announced Friday.
Cejudo became the youngest U.S. Olympic wrestling champion at 21 at Beijing 2008. The son of illegal immigrants from Mexico, his story gained instant fame, and was told in a book, “American Victory.”
He did not qualify for London at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials and gave up wrestling to start a mixed martial arts career.
“In wrestling, you’re talking about a fraternity of champions, and I got a chance to be a part of that Olympic championship club,” he said, according to UFC.com. “And anyone that ever won the Olympics in wrestling, there’s something different about them. And that’s something that I’ve always wanted to carry over to mixed martial arts when it comes to discipline, when it comes to technique, and when it comes to becoming an overall fighter. Everything that I did to win a gold medal, I’m practically transferring it over to mixed martial arts.”
Cejudo’s first UFC bout will be in Sacramento, Calif., on Aug. 30 in the flyweight division, though he’s 6-0 with four knockouts already as a pro.
“I always wanted to become a student of the game and at least get six to eight fights before coming to the UFC,” he told UFC.com. “Now I think I’m in my prime, and I’ve never felt this strong in my life. I won the Olympics at 21. I could only grow half a mustache (laughs), and now I’ve got a full beard.”
Cejudo joins fellow wrestlers Kevin Jackson and Mark Schultz in competing in UFC after winning Olympic golds. Of course, one of the most famous names in MMA is 2008 Olympic judo bronze medalist Ronda Rousey.
Skateboarding to be showcased aside Youth Olympics
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NBC Sports and Peacock combine to air live coverage of the 2022-23 Alpine skiing season, including races on the World Cup, which starts this weekend.
Coverage begins with the traditional season-opening giant slaloms in Soelden, Austria, this Saturday and Sunday, streaming live on Peacock.
The first of four stops in the U.S. — the most in 26 years — is Thanksgiving weekend with a women’s giant slalom and slalom in Killington, Vermont. The men’s tour visits Beaver Creek, Colorado the following week, as well as Palisades Tahoe, California, and Aspen, Colorado after worlds in Courchevel and Meribel, France.
NBC Sports platforms will broadcast all four U.S. stops in the Alpine World Cup season, plus four more World Cups in other ski and snowboard disciplines. All Alpine World Cups in Austria will stream live on Peacock.
Mikaela Shiffrin, who last year won her fourth World Cup overall title, is the headliner. Shiffrin, who has 74 career World Cup race victories, will try to close the gap on the only Alpine skiers with more: Lindsey Vonn (82) and Ingemar Stenmark (86). Shiffrin won an average of five times per season the last three years and is hopeful of racing more often this season.
On the men’s side, 25-year-old Swiss Marco Odermatt returns after becoming the youngest man to win the overall, the biggest annual prize in ski racing, since Marcel Hirscher won the second of his record eight in a row in 2013.
2022-23 Alpine Skiing World Cup Broadcast Schedule
Schedule will be added to as the season progresses. All NBC Sports TV coverage also streams live on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app.
*Delayed broadcast.
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Olympic gold medalist Alex Hall headlines the U.S. Grand Prix at Copper Mountain, Colorado, airing on NBC Sports and Peacock this weekend.
For some skiers and snowboarders, it’s their first competition since the Olympics in February.
The first finals are Friday — men’s and women’s snowboard halfpipe and ski big air. The halfpipe landscape changed with Shaun White‘s retirement and Chloe Kim‘s break from competition this year.
Without them, two-time Olympic medalist Scotty James of Australia leads the men’s field that also includes U.S. Olympians Taylor Gold and Chase Josey. Japan’s Ayumu Hirano, the reigning Olympic champion, didn’t enter after competing in his national skateboarding championships last month.
Spain’s Queralt Castellet, who took silver behind Kim at the Olympics, is in Friday’s women’s final along with U.S. Olympian Maddie Mastro.
Friday’s men’s ski big air final includes two reigning Olympic champions: Hall, who won slopestyle gold in February, and Norwegian Birk Ruud, who prevailed in ski big air’s Olympic debut.
The women’s ski big air final includes Olympic silver and bronze medalists Tess Ledeux of France and Mathilde Gremaud of Switzerland. Eileen Gu, the Olympic gold medalist from China, did not enter Copper but has been training while balancing Stanford freshman classes.
U.S. Grand Prix Broadcast Schedule
*Delayed broadcasts. All coverage also streams on NBCSports.com/live and the NBC Sports app for subscribers.
Two-time Olympic medalist Alex Ferreira reached Saturday’s men’s ski halfpipe final, which will not include two-time Olympic champion David Wise, who was eliminated in qualifying. New Zealand’s Nico Porteous, the reigning Olympic gold medalist, is expected to be out until 2023 after offseason knee surgery.
The women’s ski halfpipe final, also Saturday, includes Olympic bronze medalist Rachael Karker of Canada, plus U.S. Olympians Brita Sigourney, Hanna Faulhaber and Carly Margulies. Gu won this event at the Olympics.
U.S. Olympian Chris Corning made Saturday’s snowboard big air final. None of the reigning Olympic big air medalists entered.
Julia Marino, who took slopestyle silver at the Olympics, is in the women’s big air final. Anna Gasser of Austria, who won the first two Olympic big air titles, did not enter Copper.
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