"I hate to say this but the Aljamain Sterling era is upon us" - Henry Cejudo slams play-acting in the UFC
Henry Cejudo is not too pleased with the trend of disqualification wins that seem to have become rampant in the UFC in recent times. The former two-division UFC champion accused Luana Pinheiro of play-acting after the Brazilian won her bout against Randa Markos via disqualification on the preliminary card at UFC Vegas 25.
Comparing the bout to Aljamain Sterling's disqualification win over Petr Yan, Henry Cejudo wrote on Twitter-
"I hate to say this but the Aljo @funkmasterMMA Era is upon us. Good night everybody."
Referee Mark Smith called a halt to the contest as Randa Markos landed an upkick on Luana Pinheiro as she had her knees grounded, deeming the strike illegal. Pinheiro was declared the winner at 4:16 in the opening round, as cage-side officials found her unfit to continue.
UFC analyst Paul Felder initially questioned if the 27-year-old was 'acting' but took it back after a clearly-concussed Pinheiro asked officials if she had lost the fight. The fight was nearly called off before that as Randa Markos was left with a red eye due to an eye poke by Pinheiro. However, the 35-year-old Iraqi-born Canadian decided to continue when the cageside doctor asked if she could defend herself.
Henry Cejudo had previously criticized Aljamain Sterling:
Aljamain Sterling faced Petr Yan for the UFC bantamweight title at UFC 259. However, the fight was met with an unfortunate end as Petr Yan delivered an illegal knee to a grounded Aljamain Sterling. While Yan was winning according to the judges' scorecards, Sterling became the bantamweight champion with a DQ win, the first in UFC history.
Amongst many others, Henry Cejudo also voiced his criticism of Aljamain Sterling. Accusing 'Funkmaster' of acting up, Henry Cejudo wrote on Twitter-
"He got concussed and he couldn't fight but he could conduct a full ass interview and tweet after... this is why an Olympic gold medal is greatest accomplishment an athlete could do! But hey @funkmasterMMA at least you know you could make it Hollywood. And Iām not evening hating"