Tag: Aljamain Sterling

Aljamain Sterling Disputes Dana White’s ‘Weird’ explanation of UFC 296 Ticket Snub: ‘Not Trying to fan the flames’

Aljamain SterlingAljamain Sterling made his way to T-Mobile Arena for the UFC’s final pay-per-view of the year. Unfortunately, the ‘Funk…

Aljamain Sterling

Aljamain Sterling made his way to T-Mobile Arena for the UFC’s final pay-per-view of the year. Unfortunately, the ‘Funk Master’ was never able to make it past the front door.

Asked about the situation during his appearance at the UFC 296 post-fight press event, Dana White addressed Sterling’s issue with gaining access to the event by saying:

“Well they were tickets that … he was with a sponsor. I don’t know how they got pulled or what happened, but the team reached right out to him, and he was like, ‘Yeah, never mind, I’m good, I’m gonna leave’” (h/t BJPenn.com).

Reacting to White’s take on the incident via his YouTube channel, Sterling was left admittedly confused by White’s comment, noting that he has always gone through the UFC to attend a live event and not through a sponsor or some other third-party source.

“I’m not trying to fan the flames, I just think somewhere there was a little bit of a disconnect,” Sterling said. “The only thing I didn’t understand was someone sent me a clip of I guess Dana saying that the tickets were through a sponsor. I don’t know what that was about because I’ve never had tickets from a sponsor for any of the UFC fights, I always go through the same exact channels every single time.

“This is the first time that that’s actually happened so … that was weird. I don’t know if that was like what someone told him, but no, I actually asked for tickets through the UFC channels.”

Though he missed out on catching all the action of UFC 296 live, ‘Funk Master’ did take in the event at a local bar.

Aljamain Sterling has been out of action since suffering a second-round knockout loss to Sean O’Malley at UFC 292, surrendering his bantamweight world title in the process. Since then, Sterling has teased a potential move to featherweight in 2024 with the hopes of welcoming back top-ten-ranked contender Calvin Kattar to the Octagon.

Before his loss against O’Malley, Sterling was riding a nine-fight win streak.

Aljamain Sterling targets featherweight debut against calvin kattar at UFC 299: ‘That could be the fight’

Aljamain SterlingAljamain Sterling is ready to conquer a new weight class. The former UFC bantamweight world champion surrendered his 135-pound…

Aljamain Sterling

Aljamain Sterling is ready to conquer a new weight class.

The former UFC bantamweight world champion surrendered his 135-pound crown to current titleholder Sean O’Malley in August, forcing the ‘Funk Master’ to make a tough decision. He could either stick around at bantamweight and be inevitably forced to fight his friend and fellow contender, Merab Dvalishvili, or walk away from the division and test out his skills at 145.

During a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Aljamain Sterling not only suggested that his rumored featherweight debut could come as early as UFC 299 in March, but he has a pretty good idea of who it could be against.

“The realistic scenario is probably myself and Calvin Kattar,” Sterling said. “He’s the only one, I think, who doesn’t have a fight; he’s been out for a bit as well. At this point, by March, I’m probably going to be out for a bit as well, so with that being said, that could be the fight.

“But a Max Holloway fight would be a nice one too. Two former champions going at it, Max doesn’t really have much to do right now unless he’s going to up to 155 pounds; that’s just speculation, but if he gets busy, or, if I should say, if he gets bored, you know Max, the best is ‘Blessed’ but you know the ‘Funk’ has something to say about that as well” (h/t Sportskeeda).

A win over Kattar Would Immediately Put Aljamain Sterling into the featherweight title picture

Aljamain Sterling has previously pushed for a fight against former featherweight champion Max Holloway, but with ‘Blessed’ eyeing a potential move to lightweight, a clash with Calvin Kattar appears to be the next best option for Sterling.

Kattar has been on the shelf since suffering a torn ACL in the opening seconds of the second round against Arnold Allen at a UFC Fight Night event in October 2022. Despite losing three of his last four inside the Octagon, ‘The Boston Finisher’ is still occupying the No. 7 spot in the featherweight rankings.

A win over Kattar could immediately thrust Aljamain Sterling into the division’s top ten and put him within reach of a fight against reigning champion Alexander Volkanovski.

Aljamain Sterling Moves on From Max Holloway Fight, Targets Calvin Kattar for featherweight debut

Aljamain SterlingAljamain Sterling is already moving on from his proposed clash with former featherweight titleholder Max Holloway. Following his loss…

Aljamain Sterling

Aljamain Sterling is already moving on from his proposed clash with former featherweight titleholder Max Holloway.

Following his loss to Sean O’Malley at UFC 292, the ‘Funk Master’ appeared to be all, but ready to move on from the bantamweight division. Featherweight looks to be in his future and Sterling was hoping that a clash with Holloway would serve as his divisional debut.

Unfortunately, that no longer appears to be the case as Sterling is shifting his focus from ‘Blessed’ to another perennial contender at 145, Calvin Kattar.

“I think I got a little bit of clarity today,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel. “I spoke with my manager, my fiance, and we kind of went over some things and scenarios. One of the things we realized is maybe the Max fight isn’t gonna come to fruition.

“At this point, I just think he has bigger opportunities in the sense of whether or not he’s going up a weight class or the opportunity of if he were to wait to see what happens between [Ilia] Topuria and ‘Volk’ [Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298 in February 2024]. It can completely open up a brand new door for him to go back to sitting on the throne.“

“So, I guess you kinda gotta play chess at this point in both of our careers, and I would just imagine this fight doesn’t make a ton of sense to him right now,” he continued. “But whoever I do fight next in the 145-pound division, it might be Calvin Kattar. If you guys want to get a message out for me, respectfully.”

“I don’t know, Calvin, we could do this, see when your knee is ready to go, and much respect to you guys and your team. I think March or April would be cool. UFC 300 or maybe we could jump on that Miami card in March” (h/t MMA Mania).

Kattar has been out of action since suffering a torn ACL against Arnold Allen at UFC Vegas 63 in October 2022. The Boston Finisher’ has dropped three of his last four inside the Octagon, including losses to Max Holloway, Josh Emmett, and the aforementioned Allen.

Even so, Kattar holds the No. 7 spot in the featherweight rankings, making him a prime target for Aljamain Sterling to quickly climb into the top ten of his new weight class.

Aljamain Sterling eyes featherweight debut with Max Holloway in UFC return: ‘It’s a good stylistic fight’

Aljamain Sterling eyes Max Holloway in UFC return it's a good stylistic fight for meFormer undisputed bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling has confirmed plans for a featherweight division leap in his return to the…

Aljamain Sterling eyes Max Holloway in UFC return it's a good stylistic fight for me

Former undisputed bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling has confirmed plans for a featherweight division leap in his return to the Octagon early next year, eyeing a fight with former division champion, Max Holloway in his first venture at the weight class.

Sterling, who headlined UFC 292 back in August most recently, suffered a spectacular second round TKO loss to arch-rival, Sean O’Malley in the pair’s championship fight in Boston, Massachusetts, seeing his record-setting title reign come to a crashing halt.

As for Holloway, the Hawaiin striker extended his winning run to two straight fights back in August at UFC Singapore, turning in a devastating third round knockout win over former multiple-time title challenger, Chan Sung Jung. The win came after a unanimous decision win for Holloway over British contender, Arnold Allen earlier this year in another main event slot.

Aljamain Sterling eyes “stylistic” fight with Max Holloway next

Sharing his thoughts on his immediate fighting future, Sterling stressed his interest in fighting Holloway in his first venture to the featherweight limit in the opening quarter of next year, claiming the bout represented a good “stylistic” clash for him.

“It’s a good stylistic fight,” Aljamain Sterling told The Schmo. “I don’t think he’s (Max Holloway) fought someone with the wrestling pedigree. I mean, he’s fought a guy with good grappling, BJJ, but he couldn’t get the takedown and get the control that he needed to utilize that grappling. I could utilize the grappling and I could utilize the wrestling. Just gotta be smart, a little bit more patient, not like the last fight, of course.”

“I think after having this long of a break, I just feel more refreshed, more refined, and I feel like the time off has given me more clarity and will get me back to the old me and not making rushed mistakes,” Aljamain Sterling explained. “I don’t know. That fight, it is what it is. It happened. We’re just ready for the next step.”

Who wins in a future fight: Aljamain Sterling or Max Holloway?

6 Fighters Who Could Become the UFC’s Next 2-Division Champ After Pereira’s Win

Last Saturday, in the main event of UFC 295, Brazil’s Alex Pereira cemented his place in the MMA history books by becoming a two-division UFC champion. The…

Last Saturday, in the main event of UFC 295, Brazil’s Alex Pereira cemented his place in the MMA history books by becoming a two-division UFC champion. The…

Aljamain Sterling eyes featherweight bow against UFC star Max Holloway: ‘I go out there and beat that man’

Aljamain Sterling eyes featherweight fight with Max Holloway in UFC I go out and beat that guySidelined from the Octagon since an August championship loss, former bantamweight kingpin, Aljamain Sterling appears confident in proving apparent doubters wrong of a planned featherweight move – immediately weighing up a clash with ex-champion, Max Holloway. Sterling, a former undisputed bantamweight champion under the banner of the promotion, most recently headlined UFC 292 back in […]

Aljamain Sterling eyes featherweight fight with Max Holloway in UFC I go out and beat that guy

Sidelined from the Octagon since an August championship loss, former bantamweight kingpin, Aljamain Sterling appears confident in proving apparent doubters wrong of a planned featherweight move – immediately weighing up a clash with ex-champion, Max Holloway.

Sterling, a former undisputed bantamweight champion under the banner of the promotion, most recently headlined UFC 292 back in August in Boston, Massachusetts, suffering a second round TKO loss to rival, Sean O’Malley.

The defeat came as Sterling’s first as champion, having racked up a record-setting three successive successful title defenses, knocking back the trio of Petr Yan, and T.J. Dillashaw, as well as former two-division champion, Henry Cejudo. 

Announcing plans for a featherweight move in search of a superfight with undisputed champion, Alexander Volkanovski before his title loss to Montana native, O’Malley, Uniondale wrestling ace, Sterling, has apparently been doubted about his ability to be successful a division higher.

Aljamain Sterling open to featherweight fight with Max Holloway next

However, according to the former champion, he would fancy his chances at the featherweight limit, including in an initial landing against former undisputed champion, Holloway.

“[Daniel Cormier] was saying that he likes me, but he doesn’t think I should fight Max Holloway,” Aljamain Sterling said on his YouTube channel. “That kind of just makes me want to go up right out of the gate and call him out and say, ‘I wanna show you guys what’s up.’ I know he [Cormier] said I struggled with O’Malley’s height and size, but I’m like, did I actually struggle? I made one mistake compared to the first round, where mostly I was disciplined.”

“To say I would struggle, that kinda gets me going,” Aljamain Sterling continued. “That kinda gets me wanting to be like, ‘Okay, I’ll show you guys what’s up.’ I don’t think people really understand big-body Aljo, what he can do compared to scrawny but shredded Aljo. It’s just different manpower. Max (Holloway) is the man, bro. Max is the f*cking man. I go out there and beat the man, bro, come on. And I think it erases my mistake – not completely.” (H/T MMANews)

Would you like to see Aljamain Sterling fight Max Holloway in his featherweight debut?