UFC Flyweight Champion Henry Cejudo and Marlon Moraes will battle for the vacant UFC Bantamweight Title at UFC 238, leaving Aljamain Sterling and Pedro Munhoz out of the title picture for now.
Sterling is willing to take a fight against Munhoz, but claims that the potential opponent is afraid of him.
?If that matchup were to happen, I love my chances against Pedro,? Sterling said to MMA Fighting. ?I saw him do an interview with some MMA website, talking about my style is not friendly for the fans, the fans want blood, he thinks I?m just going to try to out-wrestle or out-grapple him or whoever else I fight. My response to that is, hey dummy, did you watch my last fight with Jimmie Rivera, the guy that you fought? Did you see me get any takedowns? Did you see me needing a takedown? Or was I not picking that guy apart on the feet? In my opinion, you?re afraid. I guess I might be the new Ben Askren of the 135-pound division.?
Munhoz has also stated that he?d be interested in fighting Sterling, but was critical of the fighter;s fighting style.
Another thing Sterling wants to see improved in the UFC rankings system, which has been in place for many years now.
?We?re all fighting for a reason,? Sterling said. ?We?re not fighting to just fight. There?s got to be some type of reward at the end of the rainbow and that reward is a big, shiny, UFC gold belt. That changes every fighter?s life dramatically for the better. If we?re just going to have contenders fighting just to fight, that doesn?t make a whole lot of sense. Then I might as well just start jumping around divisions too because there?s a lot of fun fights for myself in other divisions that I think I would love to entertain. I just hope the UFC does the right thing and actually makes the rankings great again.?
The fighters are ranked #3 (Sterling) and #4 (Munhoz), meaning an Octagon battle between the two could determine the next bantamweight title challenger.