Aljamain Sterling plans to send Henry Cejudo back to retirement at UFC 288: ‘I think he disappears again’
Aljamain Sterling claims Henry Cejudo’s impending retirement snapping return at UFC 288 next weekend, won’t last necessarily long – planning to send the Olympic gold medalist back to the sidelines with a bantamweigh title retention in May.
Headlining the promotion’s pay-per-view event to Newark, New Jersey, Sterling looks to become the first bantamweight champion in UFC history to rack up three consecutive successful title defense, taking on former champion and former flyweight gold holder, Cejudo at the Prudential Cetner.
Taking co-main event honors at UFC 280 back in October in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Sterling stopped common-foe, T.J. Dillashaw with a second round slew of ground strikes.
As for Cejudo, the Los Angeles-born challenger called time on his decorated mixed martial arts career back in 2020, following a successful bantamweight title defense against former gold holder, Dominick Cruz in Jacksonville, Florida.
Aljamain Sterling expects timely retirement from Henry Cejudo after UFC 288
Headlining in ‘The Garden State’ next month against Sterling, Cejudo has been touted to return to retirement if he proves unsuccessful in his quest for bantamweight gold as per the former.
“Henry (Cejudo) can say whatever he wants,” Aljamain Sterling told MMA Fighting during a recent interview. “I think I’ve shown that even if the world is against me, I’m going to fight back. I’ll chirp back and nothing is going to get inside my head and nothing’s going to deter me from doing and believing what I believe in.”
“I think [after UFC 288] Henry Cejudo disappears into the darkness again, going into the abyss depending on how bad he gets his ass whooped,” Aljamain Sterling explained. “That’s what I really do think.”
Remaining supremely confident of clinching bantamweight gold for the second time during his Octagon tenure, Cejudo claimed he was “robbing the bank” in his return against Sterling next weekend in New Jersey.