Henry Cejudo’s UFC belt is missing

Anything gold is bad luck for current UFC flyweight champion Henry Cejudo.

Cejudo was in Russia to take in Saturday’s UFC Moscow card and spoke to reporters where he admitted that the airline lost his luggage. No big deal right, it is just some clothes. Well, not entirely, as in his luggage was the UFC belt that he won at UFC 227 when he defeated longtime champion Demetrious Johnson.

“Unfortunately, my belt is in my luggage,” Cejudo told reporters. “So now, on top of my gold medal, now it’s my belt. I don’t know what it is about gold. I can’t keep it.”

Not only has Cejudo lost his UFC belt, he also lost his 2008 Olympic gold medal. He lost that piece of hardware during a house fire, in which he has said multiple times that he was close to dying. In a panic, Cejudo ran out of his house and burned the bottom of his feet, but ultimately left the gold medal in his house where it would end up burning.

To lose an Olympic gold medal and now a UFC belt must be heartbreaking, for the current flyweight king, Cejudo doesn’t seem to care.

“Let’s be honest, material comes and goes,” Cejudo said. “It’s the memories, it’s the legacy that comes with being a champion. I’m going to get a gold medal back. I’m going to get a belt back. But it’s the memories that come with that that makes it special.”

While he may have lost his flyweight belt, Cejudo may have a chance to either add the bantamweight title to his showcase or the chance to defend his belt against T.J. Dillashaw as all signs point to that being the fight that will be made.

“I believe he wants to fight me from what he has said to the media,” Cejudo added of the possible Dillashaw matchup. “I want to fight him, the UFC wants the fight, now it is time to negotiate and to see what weight class we are going to do it at. I gave him the option either 25 or 35, it doesn’t matter for me. I want a super fight. At 25 I will knock him out, so if he wants to come down, then he will get knocked out at 125 pounds. 35, 35 I’m taking a little risk, but I still believe I can beat him.”

If Henry Cejudo wins another belt, hopefully he can hang onto it.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 9/16/2018.