Henry Cejudo open to replacing Aljamain Sterling for UFC 292 clash with Sean O'Malley, offers to be backup fighter

Henry Cejudo has thrown his name into the hat as a potential opponent for Sean O'Malley, should Aljamain Sterling fail to make the walk to the octagon.

Last week, Dana White announced that UFC 292 would be headlined by Sterling defending the bantamweight title against O'Malley at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on August 19.

The bout would mark a quick turn-around for 'Funk Master', who recently defended the 135lb strap against Henry Cejudo in a gruelling five-round bout earlier this month.

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The fight announcement came as a suprise to some fans, as Sterling had gone on record expecting to take some much needed time off to nurse his injuries. Due to this, there is some ambiguity surrounding his health for the fight.

To no suprise, Cejudo has opted to jump on the bandwagon of 'Aljo' potentially not showing up for the fight and has offered to be the back-up fighter in order to win his title back. Cejudo said:

"If Aljamain Sterling is playing this game that he's not ready and he needs a little more time, let's make an interim fight between me and Sean O'Malley. It's a bigger fight, it's what the UFC wanted...Typically I would not be that type of guy that would do things like that but right now I don't have the gold around my waist. I need my gold back."

Catch Cejudo's comments here:

Hey @danawhite, I'm ready to fight Sean O'Malley at UFC 292 if Aljo Sterling keeps playing games. If Aljo does decide to show up, I'm willing to weigh in as the backup in Boston.

I NEED my gold back 🏆🏆🏆

Powered by @liftedtrucksarizona 🛻

FULL VIDEO: youtu.be/oT9cbnDy1ME https://t.co/c8xlUY87mN

Sean O'Malley's coach is confident UFC want him to win bantamweight title from Aljamain Sterling

Sean O'Malley is set for the biggest fight of his career as he takes on Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight title at UFC 292.

Tim Welch, coach of O'Malley, recently gave his thoughts on the upcoming bout during an appearance on The MMA Hour. Welch stated that not only have they been preparing to face Sterling for months, he also claimed that the UFC is banking on a 'Sugar' victory:

"Yeah. For sure. Having 'Sugar' be the champion - I mean, what other bantamweight in history has just one-punched people and walked off like Mark Hunt?"

Welch added:

"A bantamweight that's a tall, skinny kid with tattoos and curly hair one-punching people and walking off. The UFC knows what they're doing. 'Sugar' is a big superstar and the UFC helped with that so I'm sure the UFC would love to see a KO artist that's as flashy as Sean be the champion."

Catch the clip here:

Tim Welch feels the UFC "for sure" wants Sean O'Malley as champion 🏆 #TheMMAHour

"A bantamweight, a tall skinny kid with tattoos and curly hair, one-punching people and walking off. The UFC knows what they’re doing."

▶️ youtube.com/watch?v=5vJ5yO… https://t.co/nKeSxnA1BU