Demetrious Johnson thought Henry Cejudo had done enough to get the nod over Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288

By Susan Cox - May 8, 2023

Demetrious Johnson believes Henry Cejudo had done enough to get the nod over Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288.

Demetrious Johnson, Henry Cejudo

It was this past Saturday, May 6th at UFC 288 which took place in the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey that saw Aljamain Sterling (23-3 MMA) defend his title against Henry Cejudo (16-3 MMA) in the bantamweight main event.

The split decision victory (48-47, 47-48 and 48-47) for the 33-year-old Sterling has some fighters and fans alike questioning the judges decisions.

Sterling now sports three consecutive title defences, against Petr Yan (16-5 MMA), T.J. Dillashaw (17-5 MMA) and as of this past weekend, Henry Cejudo.

Cejudo, ‘Triple C’  was competing in the Octagon after a 3 year hiatus from the venue. The 36-year-old had retired back in 2020 after defeating Dominick Cruz (24-4 MMA) at UFC 249. Cejudo un-retired and got back to training, ultimately preparing for his title fight against ‘Funk Master’. With the loss, questions are arising as to whether Cejudo will slide back into retirement once again.

Several fighters took to social media supporting Sterling or Cejudo during and/or in the aftermath of UFC 288.

One of those fighters, fellow rival, Demetrious Johnson took to ‘Twitter‘ tweeting:

“3-2 henry #andnew” 

Johnson (25-4 MMA) has a history with Cejudo. The two fought in April of 2016 at UFC 197 where it was Johnson claiming victory via KO/TKO. In their second fight, at UFC 227 in August of 2018 it was Cejudo getting his revenge by defeating ‘Mighty Mouse’ via split decision. A trilogy match-up never took place.

Johnson further tweeted congratulations to both fighters:

https://twitter.com/mightymouse/status/1655087211828899840

“great fight congratz to @funkmasterMMA great game plan and execution!! keep you heard @HenryCejudo”

Correcting that post, Johnson tweeted:

“derp i meant head up!!”

Regardless of whether you’re a fan of Sterling or Cejudo, both put forward a great fight last Saturday which saw Sterling retain the belt.

As for Johnson, the UFC traded him to ONE Championship back in 2018 after his loss to Cejudo.  During his tenure at ONE Championship the 36-year-old has enjoyed 5 victories and only 1 loss.

Do you agree with Johnson that Cejudo did enough to get the nod over Sterling this past weekend?

Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!


Topics:

Demetrious Johnson Henry Cejudo UFC