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It appears as though the long-awaited bantamweight title fight between Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo is set to headline UFC 288, which takes place on May 6.
In a video uploaded to Sterling's YouTube channel, he officially announced that he would be fighting at UFC 288. The announcement comes after the bantamweight champion began documenting his stem cell treatment at BioXcellerator in hopes of healing his torn bicep without surgery.
He said:
"I'm fighting May 6 against Henry Cejudo. I'm looking forward to the challenge. Again, I think Henry is a very tough dude, very accomplished in the wrestling. I think also in the MMA world, he's had his ups-and-downs the same way I had and he's shown the ability to bounce back." [17:28 - 17:49]
'Funk Master' will be making his second title defense as he successfully retained his title against Petr Yan and T.J. Dillashaw. Meanwhile, 'Triple C' will be returning to the octagon after a three-year layoff, where he will look to become bantamweight champion for the second time in his career.
Cejudo will look to regain the bantamweight championship that he relinquished after announcing his retirement following his TKO win over Dominick Cruz at UFC 249. The former two-division UFC champion was on an impressive six-fight winning streak when he took his hiatus from the octagon, which included wins against Cruz, Dillashaw, Marlon Moraes, and Demetrious Johnson.
Check out the full video:
Aljamain Sterling believes he matches up well with Henry Cejudo
Aljamain Sterling is confident ahead of his title defense against Henry Cejudo at UFC 288.
In the aforementioned video, 'Funk Master' mentioned that he matches up well with Cejudo in all areas. Despite the former two-division UFC champion being an Olympic gold medal winning wrestler, he believes there are more ways for him to win the fight, saying:
"I know you are good in the grappling, clinch work, and things like that...but I just think I have more ways to win, and I think that's going to be the difference in this fight."
Sterling has a lot to gain should he successfully retain his title against 'Triple C' as he would further legitimize his title reign by adding another former champion to his resume.
It will be interesting to see how Cejudo performs after a three-year layoff. He has been coaching during his hiatus from active competition, so it's possible that he has improved in other areas and could surprise fans.
