"Don’t leave it in the hands of the judges" is an MMA truism for a reason. Simply put, scoring a fight is more of a subjective art than an objective science, and sometimes the judges get it wrong. Henry Cejudo has been on the wrong side of a split decision before, but last night in his Flyweight championship rematch against Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson, Cejudo had no qualms with the judging. In what was likely the most exciting title fight of DJ’s career, Cejudo did enough to impress the judges and earn a split decision win over the most decorated UFC champion of all time.

For fans that have been tracking Cejudo closely, the win may not seem as shocking as the +350 betting line for Cejudo might suggest. Cejudo’s first crack at the Flyweight king was a decisive first round KO loss, but Cejudo proved that a lot has changed since that night in spring 2016. Going into the first fight there was some hype that Cejudo could actually be the one to dethrone the long-reigning Mighty Mouse, who had seven title defenses at the time. Cejudo was on a red-hot undefeated streak, and his pedigree as the youngest-ever American to win Olympic gold in wrestling was enough to garner more curiosity than the usual DJ title defense.

Instead, DJ was able to basically disregard Cejudo’s attempts at offensive wrestling, and tore his body apart with relentless knees from the clinch en route to a dominant first-round victory. Henceforth, Cejudo’s Olympic gold became something of a meme to MMA fans. Perhaps resentful and feeling duped into believing the hype on what turned out to be yet another DJ squash match, fans began to sarcastically dismiss Cejudo’s oft-mentioned achievement; after all, the wrestling background didn’t seem to do anything for Cejudo once DJ set foot in the cage.

On one level, perhaps fans were right that high-level offensive wrestling alone wouldn’t be enough to stop DJ, himself a generational MMA grappler with impeccable fight IQ and a knack for winning hectic scrambles on the ground. But what these fans may have missed is that Cejudo’s Olympic achievement doesn’t just point to his physical wrestling skills; it points to his championship mindset. That may sound cliché at first pass, but in context Cejudo’s ascent to UFC gold demonstrates a mental toughness befitting of a UFC champion.

It really is remarkable that Cejudo ever earned a rematch after losing the first bout so badly. Coming off the loss Cejudo was featured as a coach in an unusual season of The Ultimate Fighter in which a non-UFC fighter was given the opportunity to challenge DJ for the title (a premise that also betrays the fact that DJ was virtually out of fresh opponents after defending his title so many times). Throughout the season Cejudo came off as an extremely earnest person who is eager to serve as a positive role model for the Mexican-American community. His earnest good-guy persona drew the ire of opposing fighter-coach Joe Benavidez, and as a result there was a good deal of animosity and personal pride at stake heading into their bout at the season’s finale event.

Cejudo ended being on the wrong end of a controversial split decision loss. The judges’ assessment was so questionable that Dana White reportedly called Cejudo and apologized to him for the lousy decision. But regardless of the result, most fans saw Cejudo as old news. We had already seen his ceiling – Cejudo was demonstrably inferior to DJ, and all the wrestling skills and wins over non-DJ opponents in the world couldn’t change that.

But while DJ continued racking up wins en route to a UFC-record eleven title defenses, Cejudo stayed busy as well. Cejudo knocked out former title challenger and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt Wilson Reis, and then won an impressive unanimous decision over rangey striker Sergio Pettis. In each fight, Cejudo looked notably improved. He often utilized a wider stance, threw more kicks, and was more explosive in his boxing. So three DJ title defenses later, Cejudo was again given a title opportunity; partially on the merits of his win streak, but also partially due to the dearth of other potential challengers in the division.

The rematch looked nothing like the first fight – Cejudo overcame a badly rolled ankle early in the fight to press forward and aggress DJ for the majority of the fight. Cejudo's impressive ability to fight fluently from both southpaw and orthodox stances helped camouflage any discomfort his ankle may have caused. The contest was certainly close, though no one could call the scoring for Cejudo a "complete robbery," as Cejudo characterized that split decision loss to Benavidez. DJ did look impressive as always, out-striking Cejudo on the feet and rolling into some unbelievable scrambles to escape Cejudo’s pressure. But DJ was clearly tested harder than he ever has been since becoming the UFC Flyweight champion, and Cejudo earned the right to dethrone the longest reigning UFC champion of all-time.

In their post-fight interviews, both fighters sort of addressed another factor that DJ seemed to think affected the fight – size. Cejudo did not address it as directly, but he did call for the winner of the evening’s subsequent Bantamweight championship fight. Cejudo alluded to the much-discussed TJ Dillashaw/DJ championship superfight that was frequently discussed by fans and pundits, but always dismissed by DJ over the course of the past year. DJ made clear that his goal was to dominate his natural division, and that he had no interest in fighting larger opponents. Even when Dillashaw offered to come down to DJ’s weight, Mighty Mouse was hesitant and floated the borderline-insulting idea that Dillashaw fight a contender bout at Flyweight first to prove he could make weight.

Having defeated DJ, Cejudo did not just call for TJ to move down and fight him – Cejudo offered to move up to challenge to become a double champion. This isn’t just ambition talking; Cejudo is large for the Flyweight division, and in fact missed weight in his Flyweight debut back in his pre-UFC days after previously fighting at Bantamweight. DJ subtly emphasized the size disadvantage in his post-fight interview, repeatedly commenting on how big and how strong Cejudo was in the cage. Not to say DJ was at all disrespectful – he clearly gave Cejudo full credit and made no excuses, but it is apparent that Mighty Mouse (who has requested that fans drop the "Mouse" and just refer to him as "Mighty") is cognizant of the idea that larger opponents can be problematic for him.

The odds are not in favor of Cejudo scoring the superfight with Dillashaw for his next matchup. The new identity of the Flyweight champion has turned the dynamic on its head – for TJ Dillashaw, a fight with a brand new champion is much less appealing than a fight with record holder and P4P #1 fighter Demetrious Johnson; and for the UFC, there is also some new excitement in now having a Flyweight champion who has fresh matchups with challengers within the division. The first order of business should be an immediate rematch between Cejudo and Johnson. All of the elements to justify an immediate rematch are present – the losing champion was competitive in defeat with a split decision loss, the losing champion is a historically successful and long reigning champion, and the losing champion has a prior win over the new champion.

Whatever happens next for Demetrious Johnson, his eleven consecutive title defenses ensure that his legacy is secure. Surely it is not out of the question that DJ could regain his title and resume adding defenses to his tally. And even if that is how Cejudo’s tenure as champion plays out, the Olympic gold medalist has now won a legacy fight as well. The first man to hold Olympic and UFC gold will not have to carry any regrets about his UFC career.