Aljamain Sterling had a surprising face off with former two-division champion Henry Cejudo at a PFL event.
Cejudo’s manager tried to claim that the two will go up against each other some time in early 2023.
Sterling initially denied rumors saying:
“I earned my time off, so Henry can go kick rocks… As a whole, Sean [O’Malley] just draws better than Cejudo, he hasn’t fought in almost three years… ”
He later confirmed that UFC is indeed targeting him vs Cejudo:
“O’Malley did earn it – I can’t deny that,” Sterling told Damon Martin. “Even Dana [White] said you beat the No. 1 contender so it made sense and then somehow, some way he backtracked.”
“So I don’t see why either one should have been denied that follow up claim that Dana made that whoever won would be next and he threw Cejudo in there.”
Henry Cejudo’s last appearance in the octagon was back in 2020. He retired with a 6 win streak while holding the UFC flyweight and bantamweight belt.
The two appeared amicable even though Cejudo’s manager Ali Abdelaziz sandwiched himself between them by the end of it.
Cejudo is fresh from his visit to Chechnya for a birthday party of one of the leader’s sons. He was there along with viral star Hasbulla and Usman and Gaethje.
While there Cejudo had another face off – with Hasbulla and the two even engaged in a cheek pinching duel.