UFC Bantamweight contender Aljamain Sterling gave his thoughts on the promotions decision to give Jose Aldo a title shot against Henry Cejudo coming off back-to-back losses.
It was officially announced on Monday that Henry Cejudo will defend his UFC Bantamweight title against Jose Aldo at UFC 250, which takes place on May 9 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. This decision to give Jose Aldo a title shot coming off back-to-back losses to UFC Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and UFC Bantamweight contender Marlon Moraes is a controversial one. Especially because there are a number of title contenders at 135lbs coming off of wins, including Aljamain Sterling himself.
Aljamain Sterling, as well as other top contenders in the UFC’s Bantamweight division such as Petr Yan have weighed in on the decision to give Jose Aldo the title shot. On Monday, after the UFC made it official, Sterling voiced his opinion on this situation on Twitter, trashing the UFC’s matchmaking.
“The fight that no one asked for and that nobody wanted to see! #MakeRankingsGreatAgain”
Aljamain Sterling is talking about the UFC’s official rankings, which have Jose Aldo currently ranked at No. 6 overall, getting a shot at the title over Sterling himself, who is ranked No. 2, Yan at No. 3. Moraes at No. 1, Cory Sandhagen at No. 4 and Raphael Assuncao at No. 5. All of these fighters are ranked above Aldo, but they have all been overlooked for a title shot against Cejudo.
Understandably, it’s an incredibly frustrating situation for Sterling, who is 10-3 overall in the UFC and currently on a 4-fight win streak with victories over No. 7 ranked Pedro Munhoz, No. 8 ranked Jimmie Rivera, No. 11 ranked Cody Stamann and Brett Johns. That’s a good list of wins, certainly better than Jose Aldo and his 0-1 record at 135lbs, with a split decision loss to Moraes at UFC 245 in his Bantamweight debut.
For the UFC’s perspective, they preferred a local fighter to fight Cejudo in Brazil and Aldo fits the bill, as he will sell tickets. This also goes without mentioning the fact he’s the first and the longest reigning (former) UFC Featherweight champion and a bigger name than Sterling. When it comes to earning a title shot and resume at 135lbs, there’s no doubt Aljamain Sterling and other top contenders like Petr Yan have been seriously overlooked.
This article first appeared on CLOSEDGUARDMEDIA.com on 25th February, 2020.
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