One question was already answered. Henry Cejudo successfully made the 125-pound flyweight limit and avoided any medical problems doing it. His fight against Chris Cariaso at UFC 185 is set and fans in Dallas have the opportunity to see a potential title challenger begin his climb up the ladder.

With any rising prospect, questions surround them and that isn’t any different for Cejudo.

Is Cejudo ready for a top 10 opponent?

The quick answer: yes. Although he hasn’t faced anybody ranked in the top 10 in the UFC’s official rankings yet, he’s clearly talented enough to at least be matched up with the 10th-ranked Cariaso.

I don’t think Cariaso has reached the level of being above facing a prospect. His performance against Demetrious Johnson left a ton to be desired. Performances like that send you back down the ladder quickly. This is a perfect time for this matchup, both guys have something to prove, and both will have the chance to do just that.

What’s Cejudo’s strategy?
There will be one, clear-cut advantage for Cejudo in pretty much any MMA fight he ever takes part in and that is wrestling. He won the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in freestyle wrestling, but in his last bout against Dustin Kimura was content to stand and strike.

Cariaso has struggled on the ground against guys like Johnson and John Moraga, so you’d think that Cejudo would want to use the best weapon in his arsenal to exploit Cariaso’s weakness. Will Cejudo do what he does best or try to show his complete skillset? We’ll find out when the pay-per-view kicks off.

How quickly will Cejudo rise?

With a dominating performance, the answer is going to be extremely quickly. The UFC won’t stash a fighter with Cejudo’s credentials away for long. This question has a lot of hypothetical results required to really answer.

If he puts Cariaso away and follows that up with an impressive showing against another highly ranked opponent, he could see his way to a title shot by 2016 perhaps even sooner.

About The Author

Blane Ferguson
Associate Editor/Senior Staff Writer

Blane can trace his MMA roots, like many others, to the finale of the first Ultimate Fighter season between Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin. After watching that incredible fight and cleaning the local Blockbuster of any recorded UFC pay-per-views they had, Blane was hooked on watching the sport and he carried that passion with him to the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. Blane is a four-year broadcasting veteran of ASU's campus radio including a founder and co-host of the station's combat sports show, The Final Round.