Henry Cejudo shades Merab Dvalishvili after Yan victory: ‘Easy money’

Henry Cejudo is gearing up to face Aljamain Sterling in May, but it looks like he’s already planning for his potential first title defense if he gets through Sterling.

On Saturday night Merab Dvalishvili (who also happens to be best friends with Sterling) defeated the former champion, Petr Yan, earning him an unquestionable next title shot.

But the former champion and Olympic medalist wasn’t impressed with Dvalishvili’s performance.

“These guys are the same fighters all the time. Aljamain, he just flows with his fighting, he’s a freestyler. This guy (Dvalishvili), you know he’s gonna press, you know he’s gonna do all this to shoot. This is why a guy like Merab would be easy money. I’d hurt that dude. I’d let him in on my legs, make him carry my weight, and then take him down,” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel.

Cejudo also gave insight into how he thinks his fight with Sterling will go.

“For my fight with Sterling, I have a feeling he’s gonna fight the way he fought Pedro Munhoz. I’m expecting that,” Cejudo said. “Real high pace, real volume, a lot of movement, a lot of lateral stuff, but he could also come in and just wing.”

Cejudo even called for Dvalishvili to be the backup fighter, but Merab already said he has no doubts that Sterling will show up, so there’s no need to be a backup.