Aljamain Sterling believes he will be able to maul Henry Cejudo at UFC 288.
In the main event of the pay-per-view card on May 6 in Newark, New Jersey, Cejudo is coming out of a three-year-long retirement to face Sterling. It’s an intriguing matchup and a fight many are torn on who will win. Both Sterling and Cejudo are confident they won’t just win but will finish each other.
‘Chael Sonnen compared it to being mauled by a bear’
Yet, Sterling thinks this fight will be similar to Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen and he will maul Cejudo for however long it lasts.
“I feel like a lot of guys say the same exact thing until we step in there and they go oh. I get what people are saying now and now I get to feel it for myself. It’s a different game when you step in there with me,” Sterling said to ESPN. “I bring a different style, I bring a different pace, I don’t think he has felt top control the way that I have. I think this is going to be like when Jon Jones fought Chael Sonnen when Chael Sonnen compared it to being mauled by a bear, I think that’s what’s going to happen. Once I take him down, it’s going to be tough on the feet I have to close the distance the right way, I can’t run into something but I got the reach advantage, I got the height advantage, I got the weight advantage.
“I just want to know what does he think is going to be his path to victory? You going to hit me with an inside-leg trip? You going to sit in my guard and let me hang out? Are you going to take me down or are you going to stand up and strike? I think his goal is, I need to knock him out. Good luck with that, I’m very hard to hit and with those short stubby arms, good luck Henry,” Sterling continued.
Currently, Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo is a pick’em on the betting line ahead of next week’s fight. But, if Sterling is to be taken at face value, he doubts this fight will be competitive and last all that long.
