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.”
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.