Aljamain Sterling | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

Merab Dvalishvili turns down May 13. headliner against Umar Nurmagomedov, awaiting result of UFC 288 title fight

Fresh off his win over Petr Yan earlier this month, Merab Dvalishvili was reportedly offered a May 13 main event slot against undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov. Per a report from Aaron Bronsteter, a representative with Dominance MMA confirmed that Dvalishvili would not accept the offer, citing an injury. Merab Dvalishvili’s manager Oren Hodak confirmed with Bronsteter […]

Fresh off his win over Petr Yan earlier this month, Merab Dvalishvili was reportedly offered a May 13 main event slot against undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov.

Per a report from Aaron Bronsteter, a representative with Dominance MMA confirmed that Dvalishvili would not accept the offer, citing an injury. Merab Dvalishvili’s manager Oren Hodak confirmed with Bronsteter that ‘The Machine’ is currently dealing with an injury, but also revealed that his fighter has no interest in committing to anything until May’s bantamweight title fight between reigning champion Aljamain Sterling and Henry Cejudo is in the books.

“Merab just fought and he fought injured. Nothing to talk about until the May 6 (bantamweight) title fight happens anyhow,” Hodak said according to a Tweet from Bronsteter.

‘The Machine’ climbed to the No. 1 spot in the UFC’s bantamweight rankings following his 25-minute destruction of former 135-pound champion Petr Yan. Apparently, the promotion felt that an adequate reward for his performance against the former titleholder was a main event slot against a fighter still sitting outside of the top ten. Instead, Dvalishvili has his sights set on a bantamweight clash with top contender Cory Sandhagen.

“Merab is interested in tasting that Sandhagen sandwich that was on the menu and comes at a much more high profile extra value meal compared to a guy not even in the top 10,” Hodak reportedly added.

Cory Sandhagen is fresh off a split decision victory over Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera at UFC San Antonio on Saturday night.

Hodak added: "Merab is interested in tasting that Sandhagen sandwich that was on the menu and comes at a much more high profile extra value meal compared to a guy not even in the top 10"

(He asked me to quote him on that)

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) March 27, 2023

Merab Dvalishvili’s Reluctance to Fight Aljamain Sterling Will Make Him Nothing More Than a Stepping Stone For Other Fighters

With an undefeated record of 16-0, Umar Nurmagomedov is considered by many to be the future of the UFC’s bantamweight division. It appears as though the promotion was attempting to fast-track his status as a title contender at the expense of Merab Dvalishvili by offering ‘The Machine’ a May matchup with the Dagestani standout. That decision was likely influenced by the fact that Dvalishvili has said on more than one occasion that he will never fight his best friend and teammate Aljamain Sterling, the reigning UFC bantamweight champion.

It now appears that Merab Dvalishvili will instead sit back and wait to see what happens at UFC 288 when Sterling puts his title on the line against Henry Cejudo. If ‘Funk Master’ manages to escape the Prudential Center with his title intact, Dvalishvili will be left in limbo and likely used as nothing more than a stepping stone for other fighters given his reluctance to fight the champ.

The best-case scenario for ‘The Machine’ is to see Henry Cejudo reclaim the bantamweight title on May 6. Even then, he could be potentially passed up for a title opportunity in favor of the more marketable Sean O’Malley.

Henry Cejudo rips UFC best Aljamain Sterling: ‘He won the belt via Academy Award’

Former two-division UFC titleholder Henry Cejudo didn’t hold back against bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling. After a three-year layoff, Cejudo will return to face Sterling for the bantamweight title in the main event of UFC 288 on May 6. During a recent interview with ESPN, Cejudo (16-2) had a heated exchange with Sterling, who he criticized […]

Former two-division UFC titleholder Henry Cejudo didn’t hold back against bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling.

After a three-year layoff, Cejudo will return to face Sterling for the bantamweight title in the main event of UFC 288 on May 6.

During a recent interview with ESPN, Cejudo (16-2) had a heated exchange with Sterling, who he criticized for his controversial title win at UFC 259.

In March 2021, Sterling (22-3) defeated former champion Petr Yan by disqualification due to an illegal knee. A year later, he captured another win against Yan by split decision.

“He won the [title] via Academy Award. He won the second fight against Yan [against Yan] via… judges guilt,” Cejudo said. “This dude is an easy fight for me and I’m going to stop him no less than three rounds and I promise you that.”

Henry Cejudo vs. Aljamain Sterling Are Two Bantamweight Greats

Cejudo, who is a former simultaneous bantamweight and flyweight champion, last fought in May 2020 at UFC 249 where he defeated Dominick Cruz by TKO. He announced his retirement after the bout.

The 36-year-old re-entered the USADA drug-testing pool in early 2022. His UFC resume includes other wins over Demetrious Johnson, T.J. Dillashaw, Sergio Pettis and Marlon Moreas, to name a select few.

Sterling, who represents the Serra-Longo Fight Team, hasn’t lost in five years. Since winning the 135-pound title, he has defended his throne twice with wins over former champions Yan and Dillashaw.

The Long Island, New York native is ranked No. 7 in the UFC’s pound-for-pound fighter list.

“Once that bell rings and you realize it’s not an easy fight, you’re going to feel so stupid,” Sterling told Cejudo.

The two 135-ers will settle their beef at UFC 288 that will be held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Henry Cejudo rips UFC best Aljamain Sterling: ‘He won the belt via Academy Award’

Former two-division UFC titleholder Henry Cejudo didn’t hold back against bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling.

After a three-year layoff, Cejudo will return to face Sterling for the bantamweight title in the main event of UFC 288 on May 6.

During a recent interview with ESPN, Cejudo (16-2) had a heated exchange with Sterling, who he criticized for his controversial title win at UFC 259.

In March 2021, Sterling (22-3) defeated former champion Petr Yan by disqualification due to an illegal knee. A year later, he captured another win against Yan by split decision.

Henry Cejudo vs. Aljamain Sterling Are Two Bantamweight Greats

Cejudo, who is a former simultaneous bantamweight and flyweight champion, last fought in May 2020 at UFC 249 where he defeated Dominick Cruz by TKO. He announced his retirement after the bout.

The Long Island, New York native is ranked No. 7 in the UFC’s pound-for-pound fighter list.

“Once that bell rings and you realize it’s not an easy fight, you’re going to feel so stupid,” Sterling told Cejudo.

The two 135-ers will settle their beef at UFC 288 that will be held at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Video – Merab Dvalishvili jumps into crowd to confront fan at UFC San Antonio: ‘I will f*ck your face’

Recently minted number-one ranked UFC bantamweight contender, Merab Dvalishvili was in attendance at UFC Fight Night San Antonio last weekend – watching on as fellow contenders, Marlon Vera, and Cory Sandhagen headlined – before jumping into the attending audience to confont a fan who was trash-talking him at the end of the card. Dvalishvili, who […]

Dvalishvili, who most recently took main event honors himself at UFC Fight Night Las Vegas earlier this month, leapfrogged Montana native, Sean O’Malley into the number one rank at 135lbs – courtesy of a dominant unanimous decision victory over former undisputed bantamweight champion, Petr Yan.

Expected to lay in wait to see the outcome of May’s undisputed bantamweight title fight between training partner, Aljamain Sterling, and the returning former duel-weight champion, Henry Cejudo – Merab Dvalishvili admitted that he would not fight his teammate, Sterling if offered the opportunity by the organization.

Taking umbrage with Dvalishvili’s stance on his next fight, UFC president, Dana White claimed that it would be massive mistake for the Tbilisi to deny the chance to fight Sterling for Octagon gold in the future.

“That’s a personal decision he (Merab Dvalishvili) needs to make,” Dana White said. “If that’s what he wants to do, I can tell you how that story ends. It’s not a good ending to that story. But, he’s a big boy, he can figure that out on his own.”

“You can still be friends and want what your friend has,” Dana White explained. “It would be a really bad idea for Merab to go down that path [avoiding Aljamain Sterling].”

Merab Dvalishvili confronts a trash-talking fan at UFC San Antonio

Reaching boiling point over the weekend in Texas, Dvalishvili attempted to scale his way into the bleachers at the AT&T Center after a fan – shouting expletives in his direction.

“Motherf*cker, I will f*ck your face,” Merab Dvlishvili shouted at the fan filming who trashed talked him for refusing to fight Uniondale native and teammate, Aljamain Sterling for the UFC bantamweight title.

Merab was ready to throw HANDS pic.twitter.com/CzYuZ0z7BT

— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) March 26, 2023

Following the conclusion of the main event, Dvalishvili was the subject of a call out from the surging, Cory Sandhagen – who snapped the streak of the #3 ranked, Marlon Vera with an impressive, one-sided split decision victory in the ‘Lone Star State’.

Kamaru Usman continues slide further down pound for pound rankings following UFC 286 decision loss

Kamaru Usman, who was once the UFC pound-for-pound number one fighter, has once again dropped down the ladder with the conclusion of his trilogy against Leon Edwards. With all the marbles on the line at UFC 286, Usman had made it clear that Edwards capitalizing on a mistake he made in their rematch would not […]

Kamaru Usman, who was once the UFC pound-for-pound number one fighter, has once again dropped down the ladder with the conclusion of his trilogy against Leon Edwards.

With all the marbles on the line at UFC 286, Usman had made it clear that Edwards capitalizing on a mistake he made in their rematch would not be repeated, but ‘Rocky’ once again found a way to win.

Although there may have been several referee interventions against Edwards, including a point deduction after a fence grab, the Jamaican-born welterweight remained composed and clearly out-pointed Kamaru Usman over five rounds, winning by majority decision.

Kamaru Usman slips down the UFC pound-for-pound pile

This, just the second loss of Usman’s UFC career, steered him down three spots in the P4P rankings, taking him from #5 to #8.

Undisputed bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling (#7), newly crowned middleweight champion Alex Pereira (#6), and former champion Israel Adesanya (#5) all moved up ahead of the Kamaru Usman.

Pereira will defend his title for the first time at UFC 287 in Miami, Florida. This will be his fourth time exchanging blows with ‘The last stylebender’ in combat sports, and it will surely have a major influence on the next P4P update.

Sterling will go head-to-head with former two-division champion Henry Cejudo at UFC 288, as Cejudo returns following a three-year layoff.

While Jon Jones is set to face Stipe Miocic this summer, it is unlikely any result removes him from his P4P #1 status, a ranking he has been familiar with throughout his UFC career.

It is up to Alexander Volkanovski (#2), who will be returning to featherweight to fight interim champion Yair Rodriguez later this year, to put any kind of pressure on Jones’ position.

P4P #3 Islam Makhachev may have struggled immensely in his first championship defence, but he will have to remain consistent as Edwards crawls his way up the rankings.

Edwards is expected to hold his second title defence against Colby Covington as per Dana White.

Aljamain Sterling floats $50,000,000 payday to fight teammate Merab Dvalishvili in UFC title clash

Undisputed UFC bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling has floated a payday in the region of $50,000,000 to even consider fighting his training partner and Serra-Longo MMA teammate, Merab Dvalishvili in the future – after the Georgia native called for Dana White to slap $50,000,000,000 to see the duo share the Octagon. Sterling, the current undisputed bantamweight […]

Sterling, the current undisputed bantamweight champion, is slated to return to active competition at UFC 288 in May, headlining at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Attempting to secure his third consecutive successful bantamweight title defense, Uniondale native, Aljamain Sterling takes main event honors against former duel-weight champion, Henry Cejudo – welcoming the Olympic gold medalist back from a three-year retirement from the sport.

As for Dvalishvili, the Tbilisi native headlined UFC Las Vegas last weekend against former undisputed champion, Petr Yan – turning in a dominant unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45) victory over the Russian over the course of five rounds.

Denying the opportunity to fight teammate, Sterling if presented to him by the UFC – Dvalishvili claimed he would need a fee in the region of a cool $10,000,000,000 to fight the champion, after he was issued a warning by UFC leader, Dana White.

Aljamain Sterling talks a potential fight with teammate, Merab Dvalishvili

Now sharing his thoughts on a clamored-for fight with the newly minted number one contender, Dvalishvili, Sterling claimed a $50,000,000 payday may make him consider a matchup.

“It’s his (Dana White’s) business, so I know he’s going to make the matchups the fans want to see – I know the fans would love to see that,” Aljamain Sterling told Barstool Sports of a fight with Merab Dvalishvili. “We do more than enough in the [training] room with each other, you know. Merab (Dvalishvili) is a great dude, he’ll take his shirt off for anybody – he doesn’t have to know you. He’s just that type of guy.”

“To have that relationship with him and just throw it away for, what, $500,000?” Aljamain Sterling explained. “We never talked about that. And for us to fight for that type of money just doesn’t make any sense. Now, if we were talking about NFL money – these guys can actually – these guys make $50,000,000 for like one or two years. That’s life-changing money. Why would we ever cross that type of line, to do something that’s not even going to last us – something that could set us up financially for the rest of our lives? That’s just not worth it for me.”

In his most recent Octagon outing, Sterling stopped former two-time bantamweight champion, T.J. Dillashaw with a second round TKO back in October of last year in the co-main event of UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.