For his return bout, Aljamain Sterling isn’t settling for anything less than a title fight.

The top-ranked UFC bantamweight contender now has defeated four straight opponents and is on the verge of the biggest bout of his life. Following a victory over Pedro Munhoz at UFC 238 earlier this month, Sterling (18-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) declared himself the next challenger to champion Henry Cejudo.

But now that Cejudo is injured and quite possibly on the shelf until 2020, Sterling is left to ponder his options. On Friday, Long Island’s own “Funkmaster” spoke to MMA Junkie on Cejudo, the recent injury revelation and where he fits into the grand scheme at 135 pounds.

“It really all depends,” Sterling said. “I haven’t quite seen for certain when (Cejudo is) going to be coming back. I’ve heard two different things. I’ve heard he’s getting ankle surgery, and he’s going to be out for nine months. But then I saw him post that he was getting shoulder surgery. … I’m not exactly sure how long he’s going to be out.”

According to Sterling, Cejudo’s injury is eerily reminiscent of T.J. Dillashaw “tying up” the division earlier this year, when the then-bantamweight king dropped to 125 pounds to fight Cejudo.

“This just ties the two divisions all over again,” Sterling said. “I hope it doesn’t turn into a circus all over again like it did with T.J. going down and tying up the division. I just don’t want to see this division get tied up after we just got fresh new life. Everything is going well right now in terms of people are excited about the bantamweights.”

Cejudo’s post-fight callouts of Urijah Faber, Dominick Cruz and Cody Garbrandt further aggravated Sterling, who currently sits at No. 4 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie bantamweight rankings.

“I’m really confused by what’s going on,” Sterling said. “At least Petr Yan’s got a little bit of balls. I’m not sure where Henry Cejudo’s balls are at. I think he might have left them somewhere with Marlon. Maybe he realized this division is really tough, so he’s calling out the guys that he thinks will be the easiest go for him.

“But honestly, I’m starting not to blame these guys, because if I were these guys, I don’t really know if I’d want to fight these guys either. I don’t know where these guys win. I don’t really see it. I’m getting better every time I step in there. I just can’t see any way these guys win.”

Sterling, 29, doesn’t see the value in fighting a guy whose “best days are clearly long and gone and behind him”. If Cejudo is hoping to further his legacy, Sterling believes the logic in such callouts is flawed.

“Even Dana White had to laugh about that,” Sterling said. “The guy said some pretty crazy stuff. Because like I said, these guys haven’t won fights in God knows how long. I know he said he wanted to be a legend killer, but being a legend killer means beating up the best guys. You want to be the legend of yesterday? That doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense.”

He added, “If you want to fight the best, and you want to be remembered as one the best guys, you take on all challengers and all comers. You win and you dominate those fights.

“The next top guy, the next challenger in this division is myself. That’s my message for ‘The Messenger.’”

For more on the upcoming UFC schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.