Aljamain Sterling gives an update on his injury and timetable to return.
UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling is playing his UFC return by ear. There are many factors to consider right now regarding his health and if he will be able to fight Henry Cejudo. The UFC is looking for Sterling to defend his belt against the former champion Cejudo later this year but a torn bicep in the left arm of Sterling is delaying that bout.
Sterling became the champion in 2021, and since then he has defended his belt twice, and both times he explains he was not 100 percent. He has been dealing with lingering injuries for a while now and needs time to fully recover from them.
Alamain Sterling explained the risks and rewards he is weighing to take a fight with Henry Cejudo
Cejudo and the UFC seemed to be targeting the March 4 PPV date for the bout. Sterling has mentioned wanting to wait until Summer to fight again. He was a guest in The MMA Hour and explained just what he is going through and how long he may need to take off.
“So the goal was to do PT and see exactly where we are at, we did one week of PT and this is just how I am, I tell the truth, people can say whatever they want to say about me, I tell the truth. I feel better already, just taking off the complete time and just solely focusing on PT,” he said. “It’s just whether or not it’s going to be healed enough in time to fight a guy like Henry Cejudo. And what we’re trying to do is weigh out the risk versus reward.
Sterling has mentioned that he had torn the other bicep years ago and that one required surgery. He is not sure that this one will require him to go under the knife, but either way, he knows he must be in the best shape he can be to fight Cejudo.
“Henry might be a corny, I don’t mind corny, corny is kind of funny because it’s different. And it’s not like everyone trying to be all cool and like, so I get Henry, I get him, I understand him,” he said. “But don’t let that fool you, like the guy’s a legitimate athlete, legitimate fighter. And he’s dangerous, you know, and I want to make sure if I’m gonna fight a guy like that and risk it again, that I’m going to do it and if I lose, I lose. I don’t want to have excuses like, oh, well, I fought injured and have like this built-in excuse kind of thing…that’s the risk that we take. None of us go into these fights 100% And I got to make sure if I’m going to do it, the juice has got to be worth the squeeze.”
Sterling is also taking into account that the main event for the March 4 event they want him on features Jon Jones. That event will do great money, and with Sterling getting PPV points he admits that it is really something that he has to contemplate fully.
