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After pulling out of UFC 292, UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling sent Henry Cejudo a message that wasn't exactly encouraging.
On August 19th, Cejudo was scheduled to compete in a three-round bout against Marlon Vera at UFC 292. However, he disclosed on Thursday that he had sustained a shoulder injury and would need long rehabilitation, eliminating the possibility of his competing at UFC 292.
After a three-year retirement, Cejudo would have made his second appearance in the Octagon. In the UFC 288 main event, he came back to compete against Sterling for the bantamweight title, however he was defeated by split decision.
Prior to their battle, Sterling and Cejudo's animosity peaked, however relations seemed friendly in the days that followed. Due to Sterling's recent remarks regarding a speedy turnaround to meet Sean O'Malley at UFC 292, things between them become tense once more.
“Henry Cejudo is out of this fight. ‘The savage!’ Remember that? The savage? Texting Dana [White] saying, ‘If that little p**** doesn’t want to fight, I’ll take the fight?’ Isn’t it funny how the roles are reversed now and this ‘little savage’ is no longer a savage? Very interesting,” Sterling said.
“For me, I call that being a dirty little weasel. You try to disparage my name in front of the fans and make it seem like I don’t want to fight, whatever, ‘the fight wasn’t that bad of a fight so you should be able to turn around.’ Guys, I’m telling you from experience, from a championship experience, defending multiple times... it’s very, very different getting ready for 25 minutes versus 15 minutes.