Henry Cejudo and Aljamain Sterling exchanged heated words in fiery ESPN MMA interview

Henry Cejudo blasted Aljamain Sterling in a heated exchange during their media appearance as they continue to build anticipation for their upcoming bantamweight title fight at UFC 288.

Cejudo and Sterling appeared on ESPN MMA's DC & RC show, where UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier mediated an interview and asked both fighters what they thought of each other ahead of their fight. During their fiery interview, the former two-division champion downplayed the reigning bantamweight champion's title reign from when he won the title and his title defenses:

"Hear me out, 'DC', he won the belt via Academy Award. He won the second fight [against Petr Yan] I don't know what it was, judges' guilt. And then he couldn't beat a guy I beat in 32 seconds on EPO and it took him freakin almost two rounds to get rid of him with one arm." [9:20 - 9:40]

'Triple C' continued by talking about his wins and title reign before relinquishing the bantamweight championship and retiring in 2020. He mentioned that he is a lot better now because of what he has learned while coaching champions like Zhang Weili, Jon Jones, and Deiveson Figueiredo:

"I beat Demetrious Johnson, I beat the greatest bantamweight of all time in Dominick Cruz, I beat a dude on EPOs, I got rid of Marlon Moraes who knocked him the hell out, who took him to the Neptunes, and guess what, 'DC', I'm actually even better." [9:43 - 9:58]

It will be interesting to see which areas Cejudo has improved most in as he looks to regain the bantamweight championship when he challenges Sterling at UFC 288.

Check out the full video:

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Aljamain Sterling plans to finish Henry Cejudo at UFC 288

Aljamain Sterling didn't hold back during his appearance on ESPN MMA's DC & RC show as he told Henry Cejudo what he intends to do when they meet in the octagon at UFC 288.

Sterling and 'Triple C' were involved in a heated argument as the former champion was downplaying his accomplishments in both wrestling and MMA. He mentioned that the challenger is in for a rude awakening as he intends to finish him and silence the doubters:

"Dude, you're in for a big surprise...I like your resume, I like the things you've accomplished, but you are so far ahead of yourself...And I can't wait to prove to you that you are human, you can bleed, and I'm gonna do the same thing 'Mighty Mouse' did to you, I'mma put you down." [7:21 - 7:41]

There's a lot for 'Funk Master' to gain should he defeat Cejudo as it would be his third successful title defense, which would be the most bantamweight title defenses in UFC history.