What happened
Algemain Sterling fought at UFC 288 Henry Cejudo, the same person who once handed the belt to Peter Yan without a fight. Cejudo won Olympic gold in freestyle wrestling in 2008, became UFC champion in the 61.2kg class in 2019 (he also previously owned the 56.7kg weight belt) and retired in 2020. Three years later, Cejudo announced his return, but after his departure, Yan and Jose Aldo contested the vacant title. Peter won, but lost the title in his first defense: the Russian took a knee to the challenger, who was Sterling, and was disqualified.
In a rematch with Yang, Sterling was victorious in a highly controversial court ruling, and defending the belt next time he confidently dismantled TJ Dillashaw. When Cejudo returned, Algemain was the undisputed champion and they couldn’t help but fight. The fight lasted five rounds and Algemain revealed part of the plan in a pre-fight interview.
– I think he will try to reach the middle distance, but not the fact that it is smart, because what he tries to do next is not clear. Take me to Thai clinch? But I’m taller, I’ll have dangerous elbows and knees there. Maybe he’ll try to tie me up there and take my back…
He will attack the legs and the body and count on some lightning attacks, but it will be very difficult, because he will have to go through the fire, through my ranged kicks. I don’t know how he can get close to me,” Sterling said in an interview with .
As a result, the battle could have ended in different ways. Referee Mike Bell thought Cejudo had won, Derek Cleary and Eric Colon saw Sterling win by a narrow margin.
Sterling chose the right tactic. Look at the first round – he confidently took it on in both grappling and striking. For which he can be commended – he really threw a lot of kicks. He obviously beat his leg, hit a lot of knees, even with his knees when jumping. And he destabilized Cejudo — said Russian fighter Andrei Koreshkov. — He tried to fight, he even succeeded, but all the same, with his passes to the legs, he began to doubt, because he was afraid of missing a knee. On the other hand, it was clear that Sterling wasn’t used to kicking that much and was tired. Cejudo used it and took such moments.
– Sterling works great as a number two and wins fights because of it. How can you fight it?
“Sterling has a very uncomfortable and mean way. He seems to give you the opportunity to strike, but he always backs off. Pulled back. And if you have a clear advantage over him in striking technique, then he attracts in this way and tries to fight. If we take his first fight with Yan, Petya was stronger in every aspect. Just above the class. How many times did he throw it there for a fight?
But Sterling is the kind of fighter with whom you have to surpass him in everything and be one step ahead. And to make sure he doesn’t even have a chance to cling to anything. For example, now he turned out to be taller and it was easier for him to close his hands, and he was able to transfer Henry due to his strength. And in the fourth round: Cejudo took a really good position at first, taking his neck and disabling his leg, but Sterling twisted and went toe-to-toe at the net. And translated.
He has a very mean way – he uses every moment to enjoy it.
Who will fight Sterling now?
Among the spectators in the stands was the 11th ranked number Umar Nurmagomedov, but immediately after the fight Sean O’Malley was in the octagon (you could see him in the fight against Yan in the fall of 2022). The reasons why Aljemain’s opponent will be Sean and not Umar are literally painted on his face – Sean has more tattoos, he is higher in the rankings and his interviews are understandable and impress the American public. O’Malley is for open relationships, he can smoke something of unknown content and often hits some nice kicks. O’Malley stepped into the octagon in a bright red jacket, threw it off, then a strange thing happened – Merab Dvalishvili, Sterling’s friend, took the plaintiff’s clothes. With a mocking smile, Dvalishvili watched as Sterling and O’Malley had a duel of looks, standing in a sleek red leather jacket.
– Which of the Russian fighters has the best chance of defeating Sterling: Umar, Petr Yan or the ACA champion in the same weight Oleg Borisov? – a question to former Bellator welterweight champion Koreshkov.
Everyone has a good chance. Oleg has a powerful kick, but Sterling is tall and has long limbs. Oleg could give Sterling a hard time on the inside, but Algemain has the same fight that could make it difficult to get close and work inside. But if you take Nurmagomedov, he is more versatile. In growth, it is not much inferior to Sterling. He has good standing skills and is well trained in wrestling. From a purely stylistic point of view, he would have had many occasions.
“A significant part of the public thinks that Umar is not ready to fight Sterling simply by the level of opposition he had.
– You can watch the history of many fighters, how they reached the title – not all of them passed difficult tests. Some had relatively easy paths. And when you win several fights with confidence, even with unknown opponents, it gives you confidence on a mental level. You catch some kind of luck, pruha, and for that reason alone you will have some moments, and in any battle they can bring you results.
What does the Russian champion say about Sterling?
Borisov in the ACA league holds the belt in the same weight class as Sterling. The management of the ACA regularly reminds that the promotion is ready to organize a match meeting of its champions with fighters of the UFC. The odds of that are minimal, but the odds of individual fighters in the league giving tough fights to the UFC folks really are.
“I didn’t see anything supernatural in this battle,” Borisov said. – Cejudo and I have different techniques. Henri’s head is high, his back is straight. I try to form such a kind of shell. Although Cejudo can also knock out, it seems to me that my striking technique is better, more powerful. We’re similar in terms of throwing: he also likes to throw through grapples, I’ve seen that in a lot of fights. Instead of Cejudo, if he is an Olympic champion, I would try to impose more wrestling. And he was very focused on hitting. But with Sterling, it’s hard, it’s hard to catch up. You had to focus on wrestling and kneeling. He beat them in some battles.
– How would you defend against Sterling’s legs to the body?
– I would use the Thai defense more: sort of coasters, I would knock down blows. And I wouldn’t pass at his feet like that, I would prepare him with blows.
I still wouldn’t pay attention to any of his attacks, even when he got into a fight with Ian, he threw a very weak punch, Ian got a high block back, and Sterling at that time went to the legs, and I I wouldn’t pay attention to this garland. Sterling shoots himself and it’s hard to deal with him because he’s not very technical in punching technique, he moves around and throws a lot of things from different angles. Something fits, something doesn’t fit.
– Could you fight five rounds at a good pace at age 40?
– I added cardio with age. I didn’t like running before, but 3-5 years ago I started and really fell in love with running, I became more enduring.
– Would you pass a clean doping test for this fight?
– I would have passed 100%, I’ve never been an explicit frozen chemist. It is possible that everyone uses illegal drugs, but these are drugs that you can buy in pharmacies. But I have never used HGH or artificial testosterone. No Kachkov drugs – I don’t even know what they’re called. They say I’m muscular, but I’ve always been like that. I would definitely pass this test.
Is it correct to say that you would like to fight Sterling?
– Yes. Why not? Clearly going wall to wall with the UFC will be difficult, but the idea itself is a good one. I wish this was a normal topic. I no longer cling to certain belts, results, I am ready to take risks. We have the same level, except that Cejudo is the Olympic freestyle champion. By the fight itself, by certain moves, I see we have a lot of the same guys. I think there is no difference in the class of fighters.
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Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
