The former UFC champion says his fight with Sterling is not official yet because someone’s contract hasn’t been signed.
Henry Cejudo has an answer for Sean O’Malley after ‘Sugar’ questioned why his fight with Aljamain Sterling is not official.
The former UFC champion decided to end his retirement and return to competition, with his first fight expected to be against Sterling for the UFC bantamweight championship. However, Sterling vs. Cejudo has yet to join a line-up of any upcoming UFC events, leaving O’Malley to question who is causing the delay. According to Cejudo, the ‘chump’ Sterling is.
In a recent video on his official YouTube channel, Cejudo revealed he is waiting for Sterling to sign the contract for their potential fight.
“So Sean O’Malley has been talking about, ‘Why hasn’t this contract been signed? Quote-unquote, ‘I’m annoyed.’ Well guess what, Sean? Me and you both are annoyed because it’s not on my side, I can tell you that much,” said Cejudo. [It’s] a guy by the name of Aljamain Sterling.
“And guess what guys? For the last six months, what’d you think I’ve been doing so? I’ve been preparing,” continued Cejudo. “I’m no longer training a lot of these legends, [current UFC flyweight champion] Deiveson Figueiredo, [former UFC light heavyweight champion] Jon Jones. I trained with Demetrious Johnson, but it’s typically for me. I stopped the coaching. I stopped the teaching. I stopped the mentoring. And whatever it is that I could do, I try to do, but I do it very, very limited. That being said, what I’m trying to say is, the ball is not on my court now.”
As he waits for Sterling to sign the contract, Cejudo advises O’Malley to sit out in the meantime. Because ‘Triple C’ expects to dethrone the ‘Funk Master,’ he wants the new No. 1 contender to be his first defense.
“I’m prepared, I’m ready,” said Cejudo. “The UFC wants it, Dana White wants it. It’s pretty much signed on my portion. We’re just waiting for Aljamain Sterling and we’re waiting for the UFC to really pop off the date, and for me to be crowned ‘And New.’ Sean O’Malley, stay hot, man. You just wait for daddy to come back and you’re next. That’s all I have to say, everybody.”
Cejudo has not fought since he defeated Dominick Cruz by second-round TKO at UFC 249 nearly three years ago.