UFC’s Aljamain Sterling isn’t ruling out a title shot after his second fight at featherweight.
It wasn’t until recently that “Funkmaster” had a dream of becoming a two-weight world champion, one he’d take a big step towards with a win over perennial contender Calvin Kattar in his featherweight debut at UFC 300. A former champ at bantamweight, Sterling now finds himself inside the top 10 at 145lbs following what was a dominant performance in his last time out.
Sterling On Evloev’s Resume
Ranked #8 in the world, Sterling’s next test comes against the #5-ranked Movsar Evloev, who he will face at UFC 307 on Oct. 5 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Evloev is undefeated at 18-0 with all eight of his UFC wins coming by way of decision.
“He’s not a very excited fighter,” Sterling said of his next opponent Evloev on ‘The MMA Hour‘. “I mean, he’s been in the UFC for how long now? He has has zero finishes. Knock on wood that I’m not the first selected candidate for this, but, he has no finishes. I fought the number 6 ranked guy in my third UFC fight, and I finished him. I finished the number 9 ranked guy in the UFC in my fourth UFC fight.
“I finished guys, you know. As of late, it’s been a little bit harder, but I finished people. At least I have some type of highlights on my resume versus this guy who has 0…”
Evloev holds victories over Dan Ige, Diego Lopes and most recently, Arnold Allen at UFC 297.
“I Think It’s My Time…”
While Evloev might not be what you consider a “fan-favorite” in the UFC, Sterling knows the challenges the Russian contender presents and isn’t taking him any lightly in his own road to featherweight title contention.
“I still think he’s a very skilled and talented and maybe a future title challenger in one day, but, for right now, I think it’s my time,” Sterling continued. “I don’t have much time being 35 now, and he’ll have his time soon. Unfortunately, I gotta turn him back. I gotta make these guys realize that Americans can grapple and show him what American wrestling is like.”
Sterling Says Title Shot Is “Hard To Deny” With First-Round Finish Of Evloev
Sterling celebrates his 35th birthday today, acknowledging his fighting career won’t last forever. With the few years he’s still got in the sport of MMA, the former bantamweight champ looks to close in on a title fight sooner rather than later – under the impression that a stoppage win at UFC 307 could potentially get him the winner of Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway, which is rumored for later this year.
“I go out there and I finish Movsar Evloev in the first round… I’m getting a guaranteed title shot,” Sterling proclaimed. “I can’t see any other way around [it]. I 100% believe that. The guy’s undefeated. He’s ranked 5th right now. I believe he’s 6 or 7-0 in the UFC.
“I go out there, former champion, come up, 30-27 Calvin Kattar, then come up and then dominate and finish Movsar Evloev. I think it’s just hard to deny me. I mean, who else is there? We don’t know when Volkanovski is coming back. We know Max and Topuria are fighting next. So, why not me?”
Aljamain Sterling had quite the career at 135lbs where he defeated the likes of Cory Sandhagen, Petr Yan, Henry Cejudo and many others in his title run. Arguably the greatest fighter to ever do it at bantamweight, Sterling would eventually lose the belt to Sean O’Malley in a quick turnaround at UFC 292 last August.
Will Sterling turn a new leaf as a legitimate featherweight title contender at UFC 307?
https://x.com/MovsarUFC/status/1818648093547462894
