UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling envisions a quick finish of Henry Cejudo.
Sterling (22-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) will look to notch his third title defense when he meets former two-division champ Cejudo (16-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) in the UFC 288 headliner on May 6 at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
Cejudo will return from a more than three-year layoff. But regardless of the time off, Sterling is confident in his ground game, which he used to overwhelm ex-champs Petr Yan and T.J. Dillashaw.
“I think I can stop him in the second round,” Sterling told Inside Fighting. “That’s the plan with the way I’m training. I think he’s gonna be tough to get out of there in the first round. I think it’ll be a feeling out process, maybe trying to gas him out a little bit and get him on the back foot. If I can get him down, that’ll be ideal. Once I get the takedown secured I just pound him, and either he gives up his neck for the submission or I pound him out.”
Sterling admits he doesn’t have too much time left at bantamweight. Including the Cejudo fight, “The Funkmaster” sees maximum two more fights at 135 pounds before moving up to featherweight.
“I think one, two – I think two at the most,” Sterling said. “Then it would be up to featherweight, see how I do with these guys over there. I mean I do a pretty good job in the room, just more so just getting acclimated to the weight, the strength and making sure I can compete with those guys.”
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UFC champ Aljamain Sterling on Henry Cejudo: ‘I think I can stop him in the second round’