Henry Cejudo: Beating Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288 would put me on Mount Rushmore of MMA
Henry Cejudo sees a win over UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling making him one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time.
Cejudo (16-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) challenges Sterling (22-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 288 headliner at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN/ESPN+.
A former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champ, Cejudo originally enlisted Jon Jones, Demetrious Johnson, Anderson Silva, and Georges St-Pierre in his MMA Mount Rushmore. But if he reclaims his bantamweight title, Cejudo sees himself taking St-Pierre’s place.
“I think that puts me on Mount Rushmore of MMA,” Cejudo told TMZ. “I’m probably not better than Demetrious (Johnson) or Jon Jones or Anderson Silva, but I think that puts me at No. 4.
“I think that puts me in a league: I’m a two-division champ, Olympic champ. I come back three years later – I do believe in my heart that I am the greatest combat athlete of all time, just by my resume, just by my accolades, but I think this fight right here puts me on Mount Rushmore. It puts me in the top four greatest mixed martial artists of all time.”
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Cejudo plans on dethroning Sterling, then defending his belt against Sean O’Malley. After O’Malley, Cejudo wants to go after featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, and “Triple C” says winning a third UFC title would put him in a league of his own.
“I think you beat a guy like Volkanovski, then you become the greatest of all time,” Cejudo said. “Three divisions.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 288.
