Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo targeted for UFC 288 on May 6
Rumours of Aljamain Sterling v Henry Cejudo at UFC 288
The upcoming UFC 288 event on May 6 is anticipated to feature the bantamweight championship bout between current titleholder Aljamain Sterling and former champion Henry Cejudo.
Sterling made the announcement via his YouTube channel on Monday.
“I can’t wait for this matchup, because I think that it’s two guys that won’t back down, and I think the wrestling might cancel each other out – we will see if I’m able to rag-doll him,” Sterling said on Monday. “We’re going to figure it out in the first five minutes, and from there, we’ll figure out if we want to waste a ton of energy grappling, or do we want to put [our fists] to the test and show the world what high-level grapplers can actually do when it comes to striking.”
“I know you guys were impressed with [Kamaru] Usman vs. Colby Covington, that was a striker’s delight, and I would not be surprised if this fight is exactly the same. ... Henry, I cannot wait for the challenge, and I know, and I hope, you can’t wait to fight me as well.”
The city and venue for the ESPN+ pay-per-view event of UFC 288 have yet to be announced, and the fight card order has not been confirmed. However, a lightweight bout between ex-champion Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush is expected to take place on the same card.
Originally scheduled to face Henry Cejudo at UFC 287 on April 8, Aljamain Sterling, who successfully defended his bantamweight title for the second time against T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 280, faced a potential delay due to health issues. Although he suffered a torn bicep, he did not require surgery, but the fight had to be postponed to early summer. Sterling recently stated that May was the probable timeframe for his bout with Cejudo, the former two-division champion who retired from the sport after defending his bantamweight title at UFC 249.
“It’s kind of crazy how everything kind of comes full circle,” Sterling said earlier this month. “After the fight, I knew I had these injuries coming into the fight, before the rematch with [Petr] Yan, then the T.J. [Dillashaw] fight kind of kicked the can down the road. Then I knew [stem cell treatments at] bioXccelerators are going to be very good. I’m very optimistic about that and I think it’s going to get me back to 100 percent so I can compete against a tough competitor like Triple Zero and remind him that he should have stayed retired.”
Just three days shy of the anniversary of his last octagon appearance, Henry Cejudo, a former Olympic gold medalist wrestler, will be making his comeback to the UFC. The 36-year-old fighter had stepped away from the sport in search of higher earnings, but he returned to the UFC's drug testing pool last year in preparation for a return to the octagon.
