Aljamain Sterling believes a win over Henry Cejudo will put him in bantamweight GOAT discussion

Aljamain Sterling weighed in on his upcoming title defense against Henry Cejudo and what he believes a win could do for his legacy at 135lb.

Sterling uploaded a video to his YouTube channel, where he answered questions from fans following his open workout at his gym LAW MMA. When asked if a win over Cejudo would make him the bantamweight GOAT, he responded by saying it would definitely strengthen his argument and make for a tough debate:

"I get this done, I think it's gonna be a tough debate. You know, whether you want to consider modern MMA more valid than the olden ages, but you know, stats are stats, records are meant to be broken and we'll see what happens after this. I'll let the fans decide." [5:26 - 5:42]

'Funk Master' also shared his thoughts on where he would stand in that debate. He mentioned that although he views Dominick Cruz as the bantamweight GOAT, being in the discussion would be an accomplishment for him, saying:

"For me, I'm comfortable in my own skin, so whether I'm first, second, life's good man. This is just...just to be a part of that conversation is a blessing, you know, so i just thank God for that." [5:43 - 5:53]

It will be interesting to see whether Sterling will gain recognition should he successfully retain his UFC bantamweight championship for the third time, which hasn't been done before.

Check out the full video:

---

Aljamain Sterling predicts that he'll finish Henry Cejudo

Aljamain Sterling is full of confidence ahead of his title defense against Henry Cejudo in the main event of UFC 288 next Saturday.

During the affromentioned video, 'Funk Master' even predicted that he'll finish the former two-division UFC champion and doesn't anticipate the fight lasting too long. He mentioned that he is going for the TKO win and sending 'Triple C' back into retirement:

"I think after I touch him up a couple of times, make him wrestle a bit, that second round the finish is gonna come when he starts to feel the pressure, starts to make mistakes. So, I think second round, I know I'm gonna say TKO this time and then end up getting a submission, but I would like to punch this guy's lights out, so second-round TKO." [4:23 - 4:40]