Former undisputed bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling is hoping to book his sophomore featherweight clash at UFC 306 – regardless if that comes against Movsar Evloev or not, as he calls out recent winner, Diego Lopes for a huge bout at the Noche event.
Sterling, a former undisputed bantamweight champion and a record-setting gold holder at 135lbs pounds, landed at number eight in the featherweight ranks off the back of his impressive victory at UFC 300.
Making his divisional bow in April, Uniondale native, Sterling turned in a one-sided unanimous decision triumph against perennial contender, Calvin Kattar, despite receiving criticizm from promotional officials as well as fans in attendance.
Aljamain Sterling offers to fight Diego Lopes at UFC 306
And despite remaining open to a showdown with surging Russian contender, Evloev in his next outing at the featherweight limit, Sterling has now switched his attention to Brazilian star, Lopes – who is fresh from a short-notice win over Dan Ige at UFC 303 at the end of last month.
“Movsar Evloev, I don’t know what he’s doing,” Aljamain Sterling said on his YouTube channel. “I gave him a date and he hasn’t accepted it yet, he’s been making all these excuses. Either, you fight on my terms, or I fight somebody else. So, Diego Lopes, if you oblige, let’s make it happen at The Sphere, on September 14.”
Fresh from a decision win over Ige on just four hours’ notice at UFC 303 last weekend, Lopes made his promotional bow on short-notice against the above-mentioned, Evloev, pushing him the distance over the course of three rounds in a close loss.
In the time since, Manaus-born contender, Lopes – who currently holds the number twelve rank at the featherweight limit, has landed victories over Gavin Tucker, Pat Sabatini, and a blistering knockout of Sodiq Yusuff to go with his win against Ige last month.
Who wins in a future featherweight showdown: Aljamain Sterling or Diego Lopes?