Aljamain Sterling sees Merab Dvalishvili outlasting Henry Cejudo at UFC 298.
Sterling’s teammate Dvalishvili (16-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) faces Cejudo (16-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) Feb. 17 at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., with a main card that airs on pay-per-view following prelims expected on ESPN and ESPN+.
Former bantamweight champion Sterling’s most recent win came over Cejudo in a close five-round battle at UFC 288, so “The Funkmaster” has solid intel on both men. Sterling expects Dvalishvili’s pace and cardio to be too much for Cejudo.
“I think Henry Cejudo is going to be competitive for all of three to four minutes, maybe the whole first round,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel. “But after that, you’re going to start to see a significant dip in the output, and the confusion Henry is going to have, I think, if Merab stays dialed in and focuses on what he needs to do, doesn’t rush in, doesn’t make any mistakes.
“Cejudo does good with that karate stance. If you run in, he has a good right hand. … My early prediction for this is Merab Dvalishvili finishes Henry Cejudo in Round 3. I’m going to say TKO. Merab’s not really a submission guy. Actually, I’m not going to give it away, but Merab’s got some tricks.”
With both Cejudo and Dvalishvili possessing a strong grappling base, Sterling sees similar attributes between them on paper.
“It’s a very even fight when you look at the striking, when you look at what both these guys do well, when you look at things that they struggle with,” Sterling said. “Henry doesn’t have to deal with a much taller person, but he had a tough time when he faced (Demetrious) ‘Mighty Mouse’ (Johnson) because he was a shorter person.
“Merab’s not shorter – he’s about the same height, but just a little bit taller – and I think that’s going to be a little bit difficult for him to work with that because Merab’s not the biggest bantamweight, but he hits like a bigger guy. I think Merab is going to shock the world and he’s going to shock Henry Cejudo come Feb. 17.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 298.
