Henry Cejudo is not seeing any real threat in UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling.
It has been two years since former UFC champion Henry Cejudo last stepped foot in the UFC Octagon. Following his bantamweight title defense win over Dominick Cruz, Cejudo decided to retire from the sport of mixed martial arts. During his time away from competition, he never stopped training. He began teasing a return shortly after retirement and now it seems the return is a certainty.
This past weekend at UFC 280 the current bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling defended the belt against TJ Dillashaw. Immediately following the event Dana White began to mention Cejudo’s name. He said that he would be interested in seeing Sterling face Cejudo next, and the self-proclaimed “Triple C” is on board as well. Cejudo has a date in mind for his comeback title shot against Sterling.
“I know they are talking about Perth in Australia in February,” he said in an interview with ESPN. “I think that card makes sense. I think if Aljo was smart I think he, you know, now that he’s getting pay-per-view points it’s perfect. You’re gonna have Islam Makhachev main event versus Alexander Volkanovski. We can be the co-main event in Australia. I mean, that makes sense for both of us. I mean, he’s gonna be getting pay-per-view points. You know, he fought a dude who was handicap literally he fought a dude who literally fought with one arm. I fought that dude on EPOs, I got rid of him in 32 seconds.”
Henry Cejudo plans to use Sterling as a stepping stone to the featherweight title
Cejudo has an impressive combat sports resume. He is a former Olympic gold medalist in wrestling and held the title of champion in two different weight classes during his time with the UFC. His resume still holds weight and is the reason why he may get to skip the line and into a title fight. Cejudo is not ready to just stop there. He wants to add another belt to his mantle by challenging for the featherweight title after Sterling.
“What it is is they’re tune-ups, he’s a tune-up. He’s a tune-up for me. He’s a tune-up fight, and then I do plan on defending my 135-pound belt. And then I do want to go and then I do want a piece of, of that 145-pound gold, whether Volkanovski has it or, you know, I hope Islam doesn’t hurt him too bad, but yeah, that is the goal.”
Cejudo believes he will get past Sterling and on to the featherweight title. During his time away he has continued training and has worked with some of the best in MMA, including Jon Jones, Jiří Procházka, Deiveson Figueiredo, and Zhang Weili. The matchup is not yet official but Cejudo says he is just waiting on Sterling to sign the contract.
