Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo are set to collide for bantamweight gold at UFC 288.
The bright lights of the UFC will shine on New Jersey when coming the 6th of May. ‘Prudential Center’ will provide the scene for the return of the great Kron Gracie against Charles Jourdain. Featherweight sensation Movsar Evloev will face the last-minute replacement, Diego Lopes. Jessica Andrade and Yan Xiaonan will fight each other in the hopes of a win leading to a title shot in the women’s Strawweight Division. Belal Muhammad will finally have the chance to test himself against a solid title contender in the form of Gilbert ‘Durinho’ Burns. A stacked card, indeed.
Yet these aforementioned lights will shine the brightest when Aljamain Sterling takes the ring for his second title defence. With no disrespect to Gracie, Aljamain Sterling’s opponent is the subject of a more anticipated return. The one and only Olympic gold medalist fighter in the UFC, Henry Cejudo, makes his return to the octagon. After three years after his retirement, Cejudo’s claim that he’s never been beaten as the champion of the Bantamweight Division must’ve made sense to Dana White, and these two amazing fighters will share the cage for the 135-pound belt.
‘The Best Combat Sports Athlete’
It’s a bold statement nonetheless. But no fighter’s claim, is stronger than Cejudo. And if the Olympian manages to de-throne Sterling, it will be very hard to argue against.
‘Triple C’ s last six fights before retiring, consisted of six wins. Names like T.J Dillashaw, Marlon Moraes and Dominick Cruz didn’t last the distance against Cejudo. But his dismantling of his nemesis Demetrius Johnson, remains his most deared win on that run.
Cejudo now 36, spent three years away from the octagon. There is a certain question on whether the veteran will be a victim of ring rust. Yet the former two division champion shouldn’t dare to slip, regardless of the size.
Aljamain Sterling: ‘The Human Backpack’
Maybe not as bold as Cejudo’s , but Aljo’s self called nickname highlights his ability to take control and finish the fights in the blink of an eye. 17 fights deep into his UFC career and he has only lost three. His last was handed to him by Marlon Moraes, six years ago. American’s yet to lose since that day and he has won eight fights in a row, three by stoppage. And the last four of that eight fight win streak, included wins against Cory Sandhagen, Petr Yan (x2) and T.J Dillashaw.
But the controversial events surrounding those wins are crumbling bits of doubt on his reign. After defeating Sandhagen in the first round via a rear naked choke, Sterling earned a title shot against Petr Yan. Yan landing an illegal knee in the 4th round of the fight, that he was likely winning, resulted in his disqualification. Sterling waited one year to defend his title and got his hand raised against Yan, for the second time in a row. They went the distance and the winner was decided via split decision.
His last win came against the veteran Dillashaw. After a first round takedown by Aljo, Dillashaw dislocated his shoulder. He was able to survive the round under Sterling, but didn’t last the second round, as he was TKO’d via punches.
Somehow ‘The Human Backpack’ prevailed in the talent stacked Bantamweight division, yet his only ‘real’ test remains to be Petr Yan.
Match-up
‘FunkMaster’ Sterling is tied with Dillashaw for the most wins in Bantamweight Division’s history (13) and Cejudo is in the late bloom of his career. So the lack of experience is out of the question.
Explosiveness
Yet it’s a question of explosive capacity for Cejudo, if he wants to invade Sterling’s comfort zone. As Cejudo is nearly four inches smaller than the champion, he will have to go through Sterling’s arms to provide any disturbance. Clinching would be the ideal scenario for Cejudo, but an extreme amount of caution is required when tangling up with Aljo. If Cejudo has lost a significant amount of explosiveness, he’ll have a hard time trying to get the fight to where he wants.
Wrestling Exchanges
Those aforementioned long arms of Sterling are always reaching to grab. Once he gets a hold on his opponent, he’s near impossible to shake off. But if anyone could dare to scramble with Sterling, it’s the olympic gold medalist. And if at some point that achievement feels emphasized enough, just watch Cejudo in a scramble.
Also, a question of explosiveness, surely. And Cejudo’s extensive wrestling skillset might have forced Sterling to discover a complementary option to his jiu-jitsu. Sterling is already a master of using distance management as his takedown bait. With his ‘awkwardness’ as he calls it, faint heavy fighting style and long body, the champion is able to draw his opponents into traps.
But as Petr Yan demonstrated beautifully in the duo’s second fight, everything is possible if you fight the grappler’s hands beautifully. Yan spent the majority of 2nd & 3rd rounds with Aljo up his back, yet still managed to go to the distance and arguably even won the championship rounds. If Cejudo manages to get through the first couple of grappling exchanges, he can take the upper hand due to a possible discouragement of Sterling.
Prediction
Whether Sterling manages to defend his belt or Cejudo re-thrones himself as the bantamweight king, this bout offers a classic.
Yet I think that Cejudo taking a three-year break at the absolute peak of his MMA career will somehow haunt him in the form of ring rust. Any step is mistaken, and surely Sterling will be there to capitalize. It’s hard not to imagine this fight going the distance, but I think Aljamain Sterling will come victorious via decision.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
