Aljamain Sterling has a message for Henry Cejudo: Don’t talk the talk if you can’t walk the walk.
On Thursday, Cejudo officially withdrew from his planned fight against Marlon Vera at UFC 292, citing a tear in his right shoulder that he does not want to risk exacerbating. Vera was understandably upset by this development, but perhaps less expected was the UFC bantamweight champion’s response to Cejudo’s injury news. On Friday, Sterling posted a scathing video to his YouTube page, blasting Cejudo for comments made about the champion while he was retired.
“Henry Cejudo is out of this fight. ‘The savage!’ Remember that? The savage? Texting Dana [White] saying, ‘If that little p**** doesn’t want to fight, I’ll take the fight?’ Isn’t it funny how the roles are reversed now and this ‘little savage’ is no longer a savage? Very interesting,” Sterling said. “For me, I call that being a dirty little weasel. You try to disparage my name in front of the fans and make it seem like I don’t want to fight, whatever, ‘the fight wasn’t that bad of a fight so you should be able to turn around.’ Guys, I’m telling you from experience, from a championship experience, defending multiple times... it’s very, very different getting ready for 25 minutes versus 15 minutes.
“Henry wanted to be this big, bad tough guy and lie to the fans and make it seem like he was in it to win it, yay! But now look. Instead you look like an ass clown trying to pretend you’re something that you’re not. You’re human, bro. I’m human. I at least disclosed up front because I didn’t want to rob the fans of their hard-earned money, because I wanted to check out my injuries, and I fought you with my injuries prior to coming into the octagon! So who is really the savage? Who is really built like that? Because clearly, my man, it ain’t you. Respectfully.”
Following his bantamweight title defense over Dominick Cruz at UFC 249, Cejudo retired from the sport for three years. But though he was retired, Cejudo repeatedly made overtures at returning, running down Sterling as champion. The two ultimately met earlier this year at UFC 288, where Sterling won a split decision, retaining his title. In the aftermath, Cejudo gave Sterling his props, but “The Funk Master” is less willing to let bygones be bygones.
“I just don’t like people trying to throw dirt on my name and then trying to act like it’s all good and gravy because bro, it ain’t,” Sterling said. “Don’t do that. That’s a bad look. Don’t do that. If you’re going to talk like that, you’ve got to make that walk. I know ‘Chito’ is tight because this is a fight that he was really, really looking forward to. He told me personally. We already had our back-and-forth, but he told me after his [Cory] Sandhagen fight, ‘Please eff that little mothereffer up.’ And I said ‘I got you.’ That’s somebody he said he really wants to fight, especially for all the s***-talk that he had while he was on the sidelines.
“Remember, this guy was out for three years, nursing all those injuries, doing all this stuff with stem cells... Guys, I fought with a torn labrum on the regional circuit. I fought seven pro fights. Yes, the level of competition wasn’t the same, you can make that argument, but I did it. Here I am, ready to compete and make that walk yet again, albeit not ideal for me. I think this is a savage, when you look at a savage. So when you speak about savagery, make sure you come correct and don’t miss when you’re talking about the king.”
While Cejudo is out of UFC 292, Sterling is not. The bantamweight champion is set to defend his title against Sean O’Malley in the main event, which takes place on Aug. 19 at the TD Gardens in Boston.
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