Henry Cejudo became the first Olympic champion to win a UFC belt in the UFC history. Cejudo beat the defending champion, Demetrious Johnson in UFC 227 in Los Angeles.
Which UFC champions have been medal winners in the Olympics?
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13 MMA and UFC Olympic Gold Medalists and Those Who Fell Short– Ram Chandra GiriAug 5, 2018 at 6:13
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2 Answers
Looking at UFC after introduction of weight classes, here is the list of UFC champions I found to have also won an Olympics medal:
- Ronda Rousey: Rousey is a 70kg Judo bronze medal winner at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She was promoted to the Bantamwight champion after Strikeforce was absorbed by the UFC, and first defended her title at UFC 157.
- Henry Cejudo: Cejudo is the 55kg gold medal winner in freestyle wrestling at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He became UFC's Flyweight champion at UFC227, and Bantamweight champion at UFC 238.
Notable mentions:
- Daniel Cormier: He came 4th in the 96kg weight class of freestyle wrestling in 2004 Athens Olympics. A gold medal hopeful of the 2008 Olympics, he was named the captain of the USA's wrestling team, but was ultimately pulled out of the tournament. Cormier won the UFC light Heavyweight belt at UFC 187 and became the Heavyweight champion at UFC 226.
- Dan Henderson: Henderson competed in the 1992 and 1996 Olympics in Greco-Roman wrestling, not winning any medals. He was the UFC 17's Middlewight tournament champion.
- Yoel Romero: Romero won the silver medal of 85kg freestyle wrestling at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. As of August 2019, he is ranked #3 in Middlewight UFC.
- Kevin Jackson: Jackson is the Barcelona's 1992 gold medal champion of the 82kg freestyle wrestling. He fought for the light heavyweight belt at UFC Japan, but was defeated.
