Tag: Aljamain Sterling

Aljamain Sterling Interested in Diego Lopes Fight After Withdrawing from UFC 307

Aljmain Sterling Interested in Diego Lopes Fight After Withdrawing from UFC 307After his fight with Movsar Evloev fell through, Aljamain Sterling has his eyes on a potential scrap with the…

Aljmain Sterling Interested in Diego Lopes Fight After Withdrawing from UFC 307

After his fight with Movsar Evloev fell through, Aljamain Sterling has his eyes on a potential scrap with the surging Diego Lopes.

After a successful featherweight debut at UFC 300 in April, the ‘Funk Master’ was scheduled to square off with Evloev on October 5 in Salt Lake City. Unfortunately, Sterling was forced to bow out of the bout due to an injury.

Aljamain Sterling

Though it sounds like he won’t be on the shelf for very long, the former bantamweight champion is already looking past Evloev, eyeing a fight with the featherweight division’s No. 3 ranked contender instead.

“I don’t know [who could be next], maybe Diego Lopes. “Sterling told The Schmo while discussing his UFC return. “Maybe that would be a battle for the three [ranking]. If we’re talking the next best fight if Movsar declines, I don’t know who else we would fight. But, if you give me the option, I always wanted Brian Ortega so I could get the next closest spot to the top.

“Now that next closest guy is Diego Lopes. That’s all it is. It has nothing to do with what this guy did or that, but it’s the name value, what it gets me, the risk vs. reward. If I’m going to risk it for the biscuit, that’s the guy I’d want to risk it with” (h/t BJPenn.com).

Aljamain Sterling vs. Movsar Evloev likely to be rebooked

Lopes thrust into the featherweight top five at UFC 306 via a unanimous decision victory over ex-title challenger Brian Ortega. He is now 5-1 inside the Octagon with wins over the likes of Pat Sabatini, Sodiq Yusuff, and Dan Ige.

gettyimages 2172050889 612x612 1

With Evloev unable to secure a short-notice opponent for UFC 307 next month, the promotion will likely reschedule his bout with Sterling for some time in late 2024 or early 2025, but we can’t help but be excited by a potential meeting between the explosive Lopes and one of the best grapplers in the game.

gettyimages 2159887693 612x612 1

Aljamain Sterling Names Next High-Profile Opponent If Movsar Evloev Rejects Rebooked Fight

Aljamain Sterling recently name-dropped a high-profile opponent he hopes to face next if Movsar Evloev declines to rebook their fight. “Funk Master” was set to face Evloev in what could have been a pivotal featherweight title eliminator at UFC 307 on October 5 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. However, last week, […]

Continue Reading Aljamain Sterling Names Next High-Profile Opponent If Movsar Evloev Rejects Rebooked Fight at MMA News.

Aljamain Sterling recently name-dropped a high-profile opponent he hopes to face next if Movsar Evloev declines to rebook their fight.

“Funk Master” was set to face Evloev in what could have been a pivotal featherweight title eliminator at UFC 307 on October 5 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. However, last week, Sterling announced that he was compelled to withdraw from the matchup due to a serious elbow injury.

The former UFC bantamweight champion made a successful transition to the 145-pound division this past April at UFC 300, where he delivered a dominant victory over Calvin Kattar. Sterling has one goal in mind—to compete against elite opponents and secure his place in title contention as swiftly as possible.

With uncertainty surrounding the possibility of rescheduling his bout with Evloev, Sterling has a contender in mind who could propel him toward a title shot…

Sterling Finds Inspiration In Diego Lopes’ Journey & Wants To Face Him Next

During a recent interview with The Schmo, Sterling lavished praise on Diego Lopes for his success in the Octagon. “Funk Master” noted that while he maintains a strong camaraderie with Lopes, he feels that competitive tension is gradually building between them as the Brazilian climbs the ranks in the featherweight division.

“I think Diego rising to his stardom and his rise in the sport in the UFC has been huge; it’s nothing short of inspiring, to be honest,” Sterling said. “I’m happy for the guy. I got to train with him one time; he was a very nice dude, very polite. I can kind of feel the tension shift a little bit now whenever I see him. It seems like there’s a little bit more tension there. It’s not like I’m fighting him tomorrow or he’s my next scheduled fight, so for me, I don’t really see a point in being like that. But I can understand why he’s a little bit more on guard when seeing me or meeting me.”

Sterling further mentioned that if his fight with Evloev doesn’t get rebooked, he would definitely be eager to share the Octagon with Lopes in pursuit of his title shot.

“If we’re talking about the next best fight, if Movsar declines, I just don’t know who else he would fight. But if he gives me the option, I’ve always wanted Brian Ortega so I could get the closest spot to the top, and now that next closest guy is Diego Lopes. That’s all it is; it has nothing to do with what this guy did or that. It’s the name value and what it gets me—risk versus reward. If I’m going to risk it for the biscuit, that’s the guy I would risk it with.”

Lopes has been on a remarkable run in the Octagon since narrowly losing his promotional debut against Evloev at UFC 288. The Brazilian extended his win streak to five with a dominant victory over Ortega at Noche UFC 306, propelling himself to the #3 spot in the featherweight rankings.

Continue Reading Aljamain Sterling Names Next High-Profile Opponent If Movsar Evloev Rejects Rebooked Fight at MMA News.

Aljamain Sterling Out Of Movsar Evloev Fight At UFC 307: ‘I Need All My Tools’

Aljamain Sterling moved up to featherweight after losing his UFC bantamweight championship to Sean O’Malley. He dominated Calvin Kattar in his divisional debut and was scheduled to fight Movsar Evloev at UFC 307 next. However, Sterling has pulled out of the UFC 307 bout because of an injury that he sustained during sparring. Despite taking […]

Continue Reading Aljamain Sterling Out Of Movsar Evloev Fight At UFC 307: ‘I Need All My Tools’ at MMA News.

Aljamain Sterling moved up to featherweight after losing his UFC bantamweight championship to Sean O’Malley. He dominated Calvin Kattar in his divisional debut and was scheduled to fight Movsar Evloev at UFC 307 next.

However, Sterling has pulled out of the UFC 307 bout because of an injury that he sustained during sparring. Despite taking the right precautions and undergoing stem cell therapy, he hasn’t been able to recover properly and announced his injury via YouTube and X recently.

“I think it’s a tough test. And I truly do believe I have the abilities to beat you. So, let’s do this in December. And I’ll see you on the other side of the Octagon. But if you decide not to wait, I can respect that also. Because I know you’re trying to fight for a belt as am I and the only way to do that is to go through each other.”

Aljo still wants to fight Evloev but expects the latter to wait until December. The undefeated Russian featherweight is naturally unhappy with this development, and here’s what he plans to do now…

Movsar Evloev Responds To Aljamain Sterling Pulling Out Of 307 Because Of Injury

Evloev has been training for his next featherweight fight in the UFC for four months. Even with all the bad blood between him and Sterling so far, he isn’t interested in pushing back the matchup.

Evloev shared on X (formerly Twitter) that he is willing to stay on UFC 307 and will fight anybody. From Diego Lopes to Dan Ige to Josh Emmett, there are a bunch of matchups that fans have already suggested.

With consecutive wins over Ige, Lopes, and Arnold Allen, undefeated Evloev at 18-0 is certainly one of the most interesting prospects in the UFC featherweight division. A win over a former champ like Sterling could have secured him a title shot or, at the very least, put him in a title eliminator.

Similarly, Sterling looked forward to fighting Diego Lopes after beating Evloev. Such massive wins would’ve put him in a comfortable spot to challenge Ilia Topuria or Max Holloway for the title.

It is worth noting that Nate Landwehr is also out of his UFC 307 bout against Austin Hubbard. He’ll be replaced by Alexander Hernandez.

Continue Reading Aljamain Sterling Out Of Movsar Evloev Fight At UFC 307: ‘I Need All My Tools’ at MMA News.

Aljamain Sterling Withdraws from UFC 307 Fight vs. Movsar Evloev Due to Injury

Aljamain Sterling announced Wednesday that he’ll be unable to compete at UFC 307 after suffering an injury in sparring. The former bantamweight champion said…

Aljamain Sterling announced Wednesday that he’ll be unable to compete at UFC 307 after suffering an injury in sparring. The former bantamweight champion said…

Aljamain Sterling Withdraws from UFC 307 Fight vs. Movsar Evloev Due to Injury

Aljamain Sterling announced Wednesday that he’ll be unable to compete at UFC 307 after suffering an injury in sparring. The former bantamweight champion said…

Aljamain Sterling announced Wednesday that he’ll be unable to compete at UFC 307 after suffering an injury in sparring. The former bantamweight champion said…

Aljamain Sterling Eyes Winner Of Brian Ortega vs. Diego Lopes If He Beats Movsar Evloev At UFC 307

Aljamain Sterling defended the UFC bantamweight championship three times before moving up to featherweight. His TKO loss to Sean O’Malley has helped teammate and friend Merab Dvalishvili to get his well-deserved title shot, though. Sterling has no plans to move down to bantamweight despite his featherweight debut against Calvin Kattar getting a mixed response in […]

Continue Reading Aljamain Sterling Eyes Winner Of Brian Ortega vs. Diego Lopes If He Beats Movsar Evloev At UFC 307 at MMA News.

Aljamain Sterling defended the UFC bantamweight championship three times before moving up to featherweight. His TKO loss to Sean O’Malley has helped teammate and friend Merab Dvalishvili to get his well-deserved title shot, though.

Sterling has no plans to move down to bantamweight despite his featherweight debut against Calvin Kattar getting a mixed response in MMA circles. With eight takedowns and almost 11 minutes of control time, he completely shut down the striker, but the bout lacked excitement.

Aljo is scheduled to fight Movsar Evloev at UFC 307, and he’s already laid down the plan to reach featherweight gold in the promotion after his next fight…

Aljamain Sterling Discusses His Future In The UFC Featherweight Division If He Wins Against Movsar Evloev

Sterling was interviewed on the Helen Yee Sports YouTube channel recently. After backing his training partner to win the title at UFC 306, the former UFC bantamweight champ opened up about his plans to reach another division’s top.

“Funk Master” questioned the UFC ranking Arnold Allen over Evloev even though his upcoming opponent beat Allen via unanimous decision earlier this year. Regardless, his aim is to enter the top 5 ranking with a solid win over Evloev and challenge the winner of Brian Ortega vs. Diego Lopes in a title eliminator.

“I beat a guy like that, I think that puts me in a top-five conversation and then maybe the winner of Diego Lopes vs. Ortega. I fight that guy and then I fight for a world title.”

If everything goes according to this plan, Sterling can very well look forward to fighting for the UFC featherweight champion after a couple of fights. He acknowledged that Evloev is a high-level grappler and his cardio could be a problem in their bout.

“It’s a tough fight. Two high-level grapplers and, I think I just edge him out in every department. The only thing, that if I’m being fair, the only thing that Movsar might have on me that he’s been able to show of late that I haven’t shown is the cardio. Because he can go at that pace the whole time, kind of, reminds of a Merab and I’m not ignorant to that. I can break things down and not be biased, but I know we’ll be ready to go 15 minutes.”

“Funk Master” also understands that he has to get a finish in his next fight to get more fans supporting his rise to the title. As a result, we might see some urgency to get a submission from Sterling as soon as the fight begins.

Continue Reading Aljamain Sterling Eyes Winner Of Brian Ortega vs. Diego Lopes If He Beats Movsar Evloev At UFC 307 at MMA News.