Aljamain Sterling has withdrawn from his bantamweight title defense against Henry Cejudo at UFC 284. Following the unexpected news, Cejudo claimed, “Sterling is ducking him.” However, the decision made by the current bantamweight champion triggered the fans and the UFC community into finding the reason behind it.
Last Saturday at UFC 280, Sterling beat Dillashaw in a second-round TKO and secured the bantamweight title for himself. The match was pretty one-sided due to TJ’s shoulder injury. But recently, a number of reports claimed that the no. 8 UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings fighter is taking a break from the MMA world and has no intention of defending his title for now. As he said, “I’m not fighting until mid-year next year.” The unknown time off might have some reasons behind it, as he later pointed out.
The 33-year-old MMA fighter is in denial that fans want to see him against Cejudo. He believes fans are more interested in him taking on Chito rather than Cejudo. Apart from this, the rising UFC star is feeling extremely insecure about the pay-per-view points because it solely depends on the audience and their excitement about the fight. He later claimed, he wanted that biggest fight where fans could have the same excitement as him.
“He (Cejudo) hasn’t fought in almost three years. I’m only pointing out the negatives. Outside of his credentials, as a die-hard, I’d be excited about that fight. But other than that, in terms of finances, I want the biggest fight, which is typically the fight the fans want to see the most. I feel it’s the Sean O’Malley fight, but again, if I’m wrong, I’m wrong. ” Sterling stated in a recent interview.
Hey Allshitstain… @funkmasterMMA Are you really gonna count your victory over the Gimp as a win? Surprised you didn’t call out Oscar Pistorius afterwards. I know you gotta work on your cardio but don’t run from me for 8 months. 💋
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) October 28, 2022
On the other hand, the former flyweight champion is unhappy about the situation. In his defense, he stated that “Sterling is ducking him,” suggesting that he believed the reigning bantamweight champion had made the whole thing up. He believes the rising American MMA fighter isn’t actually prepared to face him just yet and needs a big long break for that.
