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UFC star Henry Cejudo details subduing hit-and-run suspect in wild incident
Olympic gold medallist, two-weight UFC champion, and now Henry Cejudo can add neighbourhood hero and part-time vigilante crimefighter to his résumé.
Olympic gold medallist, two-weight UFC champion, Henry Cejudo can now add neighbourhood hero and part-time vigilante crimefighter to his résumé.
The 38-year-old mixed martial arts star was interviewed in front of a crime scene shortly after an alleged hit-and-run and assault transpired Friday night near his home in Phoenix.
Cejudo explained he went to assist after seeing a speeding vehicle and hearing it crash into a neighbour’s house. Other neighbours also arrived as the driver and multiple passengers began attempting to flee the scene.
“You can see inside this room, if someone was standing in there, they would be dead. All these kids are lucky to be alive,” Cejudo told gathered media while standing in front of the crash site and damaged house. “They all started to get out little by little. One of them kind of got away. They ended up getting them, but they all tried getting out of the car.
“Once they got out, I told them, ‘Hey, you guys ain’t going nowhere.’ The owner of this house tried to stop them and said, ‘You guys gotta be held accountable.’”
Then, as Cejudo explained, the driver allegedly struck the homeowner, which is when he decided to get directly involved.
“He ends up cold-cocking my neighbour. That’s when I had to step in,” Cejudo added. “Pretty much (the whole neighbourhood) came in to fight the situation. I ended up lifting him and dropping him, slapped him around a little bit and pretty much controlled him with one arm, so he wasn’t that tough.”
And Cejudo did it all in gold, silk pyjamas.
Police eventually arrived on the scene to make arrests. It is unclear how old the suspects are and what criminal charges they may face.
Cejudo is coming off a disappointing loss to Song Yadong six weeks ago when an eye injury stemming from an eye-poke resulted in a technical decision.
The former flyweight and bantamweight champion has lost three consecutive outings since ending his initial retirement from the sport in 2020, yet remains a popular fighter on the UFC roster in addition to also being a successful analyst, podcast host … and occasional crime stopper, of course.
