Aljamain Sterling has expressed doubts over the cleanliness of Henry Cejudo in his upcoming UFC 288 match. The current bantamweight titleholder, who has been inactive since his victory over T.J. Dillashaw, is preparing to defend his title against the former flyweight and bantamweight champion this weekend. However, Sterling is unsure if Cejudo is on an equal playing field due to his hiatus from the USADA testing pool, speculating that he may have taken banned substances during his break.
During an interview Sterling revealed that he wouldn’t be surprised if Cejudo had taken advantage of his time off, “I wouldn’t put it past Henry to have taken advantage of his three-year downtime and two years out of the testing pool. I don’t know if I can call it cheating–I don’t know if I can call it an advantage, either.”
Sterling thinks that Cejudo might have used banned substances while he was retired
Sterling acknowledged that while he has been active and in the USADA testing pool, Cejudo has had his own advantages from being off, including not being subjected to early morning testing. He admitted that it would be naive not to consider the possibility that Cejudo had used banned substances during his break and that only Cejudo and God would know the answer.
“We’ll find out who the better man is,” Sterling concluded. “Whatever he’s done, only him and God can answer those questions. I’m going to go out there and prove my work is good enough to get it done.”