A bantamweight title bout pitting reigning champ Aljamain
Sterling against Henry
Cejudo has been targeted for UFC 288 on May 6.
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Multiple outlets confirmed the booking after Sterling announced it
on his podcast. The May 6 date hasn’t been officially announced by
the promotion, but it is expected to be a pay-per-view event.
Sterling and Cejudo were initially rumored to meet earlier this
year, but “The Funkmaster”
revealed that he would need more time to heal from a torn
bicep, putting that timeline on hold. UFC 288 doesn’t have a
location or venue.
“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 these [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 way.”
Sterling is coming off a second-round TKO of T.J.
Dillashaw in a bantamweight title defense at UFC 280 this past
October. The Serra-Longo Fight Team member has won eight
consecutive bouts in UFC competition, a run that includes triumphs
over the likes of Petr Yan
(twice), Cory
Sandhagen, Pedro
Munhoz and Jimmie
Rivera.
A former title holder at both flyweight and bantamweight, Cejudo
has not competed since a second-round TKO of Dominick
Cruz at UFC 249 in May 2020. The Olympic gold medalist
announced his retirement after the victory, relinquishing his
135-pound belt in the process. Cejudo has won six straight bouts
dating back to September 2017, a run that features victories
against Marlon
Moraes, Dillashaw, Demetrious
Johnson and Sergio
Pettis.