Henry Cejudo, Dominick Cruz (©UFC)

Henry “The Messenger” Cejudo, 33, of Phoenix, Arizona, United States is still the reigning bantamweight champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The Mexican-American mixed martial artist successfully defended his belt at “UFC 249.”

Featuring 11 MMA matches, “UFC 249” took place at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, USA on May 9, 2020. In the co-main event of the evening, Cejudo was challenged by former UFC Bantamweight Champion Dominick “The Dominator” Cruz, 34, of San Diego, California, USA.

Keith Peterson served as the referee. He put a stop to the title bout after 4 minutes and 58 seconds in the second round when Cejudo knocked out Cruz via knee and punches.

With this win, Cejudo now joins Daniel “DC” Cormier, 41, of San Jose, California as the only two UFC fighters to successfully defend a title in two different weight divisions. The Phoenix native is a former UFC Flyweight Champion while the San Jose used to hold the heavyweight and light heavyweight tiles in the UFC simultaneously.

Cruz held the UFC Bantamweight Championship title from December 16, 2010 to January 6, 2014 and from January 17, 2016 to December 30, 2016. Cejudo has been holding the title since June 8, 2019.

Cejudo is now riding a six-bout winning streak. “UFC 249” marked his 10th UFC victory.

Competing professionally since 2013, Cejudo joined the UFC in 2014. The first nine opponents he defeated in the promotion were Dustin Kimura, Chris Cariaso, Chico Camus, Jussier Formiga, Wilson Reis, Sergio Pettis, Demetrious Johnson, T.J. Dillashaw and Marlon Moraes.

Winning at “UFC 249” improved the professional MMA record of Cejudo to 16 wins and 2 losses. On the other hand, Cruz now has 22 wins and 3 losses.

Seven countries were represented at “UFC 249” namely were Brazil, Cameroon, Cape Verde, France, Russia, Suriname and the U.S. Cejudo and Cruz were two of the 16 representatives of the U.S.

While almost all major international sports events have been either cancelled or postponed, the UFC held “UFC 249” amid the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. As of May 9, 2020, the U.S. listed 1,346,354 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 80,007 died from a disease caused by the virus and 236,825 recovered from it.