T.J. Dillashaw likes Henry Cejudo’s chances in a potential Aljamain Sterling title fight.
Unfortunately for the former two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight titleholder, his two worst career performances came against each man in the hypothetical pairing. As compelling as the match up looks on paper, Dillashaw feels the world would hear “and new” if it comes to fruition.
“Yes, easily,” Dillashaw responded on The MMA Hour when asked if he believes Cejudo beats Sterling. “I think that’s a great match up for Henry Cejudo. He’s just got the wrestling pedigree and his striking is I think a lot better than Aljamain’s.
“Aljamain doesn’t have any real structure — I guess his funkiness works for him, right? Because he doesn’t throw things the way you’re supposed to and he doesn’t set up his kicks and just 90 percent of his strikes are kicks. If I would have been healthy with that being able to counter his kicks the right way, it could have been a different story. But I just think that Cejudo’s more well-rounded, has more threats, and I don’t think he can outwrestle him so that’s a problem.”
Sterling defeated Dillashaw with relative ease at UFC 280 two weekends ago (Oct. 22, 2022). Suffering a second round technical knockout loss after heavy ground and pound punches (watch highlights), Dillashaw revealed he’d been dealing with a dislocated shoulder dating back to April 2022. He’s now expected to be out for one year recovering.
Cejudo, on the other hand, has been retired since his final victory over Dominick Cruz in May 2020, but re-entered the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) testing pool in 2022 with intentions of becoming a champion once again. Now, it’s just a matter of whether or not he gets his desired opportunity to challenge for gold.