UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling has confirmed that a fight with former double-champ Henry Cejudo is in the works for March of next year.
Cejudo’s manager Ali Abdelaziz had been the first to suggest that the fight was going to happen, but though it seems that it’s not been officially signed yet, Sterling confirming it suggests that it will take place.
“I’m announcing that I am going to fight Henry next,” Sterling told mmafighting.com. “We are targeting March. I will say Ali, brother, it’s done but it’s still not done until there’s ink on the paper but it’s done. But it’s still kind of not done but this is the fight that’s going to happen next.
“This fight is going to happen. Obviously, you guys saw the face off with myself and Henry Cejudo. I have no problem fighting Henry. Never ducked anybody a day in my life. The UFC gives me the toughest competition and I always step up to the plate and I always win, except for that one time when I got sent to Neptune against Marlon Moraes. For the most part, I typically win.”
A former Olympic wrestling gold medalist, Cejudo previously held both the flyweight and bantamweight titles in the UFC, beating the likes of Demetrious Johnson, Dominick Cruz, TJ Dillashaw along the way, but then retired in the summer of 2020.
Since then he’s often talked about making a comeback, and now it seems that the 35-year-old is finally going to put his words into action, and Sterling appears to be up for the challenge.
“I like the matchup,” Sterling said. “I think it’s going to be a fun fight for the fans. I think, on paper, it will be more competitive, even though I think skill wise I think [Sean] O’Malley possesses more of a threat of fight ending KO, if that makes sense. Henry can win the fight but I don’t think he wins by finish. I just can’t see myself losing to Henry by finish.
“That’s always possible but I just don’t see how Henry can find a shot that can put me out unless I ran face first into his knee like I did against Marlon Moraes, which knock on wood, I don’t think that’s going to happen again.”
