Pedro Munhoz talks Aljamain Sterling's chances against Henry Cejudo (Exclusive)
Henry Cejudo will make his return to the octagon at UFC 288 against bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling on May 6, 2023.
The former bantamweight champion will aim to regain the title he never lost in the octagon but will his time away from action affect him compared to Sterling's strong showings in his last few fights.
Brazilian bantamweight Pedro Munhoz raised this concern in his exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA's James Lynch.
Munhoz spoke about Aljamain Sterling's physical size advantage factoring in at the UFC 288 main event. He backed the Jamaican-origin fighter to defend his title against Henry Cejudo, marking his third succesful defense.
Munhoz said:
“Yeah, no definitely. Cejudo is a great fighter. You know, the result has been showing that and all that stuff that he has been doing in this sport. But for this match specific, I see [an] advantage for Aljamain Sterling. For the size, for you know the amount of fighters he has been [fighting] lately and didn’t take that much damage. To be longer and the pace, cardio-wise and all that, I think that’s gonna make a lot of difference in the bout. So I see little bit like Aljamain Sterling.”
Check out Pedro Munhoz's exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA on our official YouTube channel:
Henry Cejudo weighs in on Alex Pereira vs. Israel Adesanya title fight at UFC 287
UFC 288's bantamweight title bout will be preceded by a middleweight championship rematch at UFC 287 between familiar foes Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya.
Henry Cejudo broke down the entire rematch on his YouTube channel and emphasized the need for changes in Adesanya's approach and preparation.
“It all depends if Israel made those adjustments in that fight. If Israel did not add somebody to his camp, it’s going to be the same guy (that wins). If he made those transitions, I can see Izzy playing the distance game, point fighting, and then maybe look for something big to eventually take him down because he did as we saw before, he had six minutes and 34 seconds of control time. Take him into the deeper rounds and then start looking for your takedowns.
Cejudo also mentioned that he would be cheering on 'The Last Stylebender' in the fight but does not think his Brazilian foe can be overcome.
"I just think Israel is stuck, he just believes he could beat him in his style, so for that reason I just can’t. I just feel like this man’s (Pereira) power, the fact that he’s already beaten him three times. I think fourth time, he just puts a stamp on it.”
Check out Henry Cejudo's complete breakdown on YouTube: