Video: Sterling, Cejudo trade barbs in heated joint ESPN interview

The ‘Funk Master’ and ’Triple C’ are fired up for their upcoming championship clash. 

What do you get when you schedule Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo for a joint interview? One hell of a promo for their upcoming fight at UFC 288 on May 6 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

For his third defense of the UFC bantamweight championship, Sterling faces Cejudo, the former two-division champion who ended his retirement and announced a return to competition a year ago. Since then, ’Triple C’ has set his sights on several fights, including against the ‘Funk Master,’ who has added a pair of former champions to his résumé in Petr Yan and T.J. Dillashaw during his reign.

However, to Cejudo, neither of those wins were noteworthy. During a recent interview with UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier, the Fight Ready product ripped Sterling for his previous defenses.

“He won the belt via Academy Award,” said Cejudo on the DC & RC Show. “He won the second fight [against Petr Yan] via — I don’t know what it was, judges’ guilt. And then he couldn’t beat a guy that I beat in 32 seconds on EPO, and it took him almost freaking two rounds to get rid of him with one arm!

“I’m a different cat,” continued Cejudo. “I beat Demetrious Johnson, I beat the greatest bantamweight of all time Dominick Cruz, I beat a dude on EPO, I got rid of Marlon Moraes who knocked him the hell out, who took him to the Neptunes. I beat all these guys. And guess what, DC? I’m actually even better.”

In his official prediction of the fight, Cejudo said he would finish Sterling inside of three rounds. The Serra-Longo Fight Team representative, who has only one loss via finish on his record, cautioned his opponent from seeing this as an ‘easy’ fight.

As for Sterling, he expects to silence Cejudo once they share the Octagon.

“All I got to say is we’re going to find out who is who,” said Sterling. “People doubted me my entire career and I keep showing them who I am and what I’m made of. I work hard, I earned this spot, and all I can do is go out there and prove this man wrong once again.”

You can watch the entire interview above.

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About the author: Kristen King is a writer for Bloody Elbow. She has covered combat sports since 2016. (full bio)