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Top 5 featherweight contender accepts a fight with ex-champion Aljamain Sterling: ‘I like it’

Top 5 featherweight contender accepts a fight with ex-champion Aljamain Sterling: 'I like it' If Aljamain Sterling can’t bag a fight with Brian Ortega, he can still score a scrap with the featherweight…

If Aljamain Sterling can’t bag a fight with Brian Ortega, he can still score a scrap with the featherweight division’s No. 5 ranked contender.

The ‘Funk Master’ made his successful debut in the featherweight division at UFC 300, offering up what he believes was “the most dominant performance” of the landmark event against Calvin Kattar. The win thrust Sterling immediately into the division’s top 10, occupying the No. 8 spot.

Afterward, Sterling called for a fight with Ortega. However, if that doesn’t come to fruition, the former bantamweight champ thinks a showdown with undefeated Russian standout Movsar Evloev could be a “fun” one.

“I would rather the Ortega fight because I’m gunning for the belt, so if there’s a fight, and you’re giving me the option to pick, I’m going to pick the highest ranked guy,” Sterling said on The MMA Hour. “It’s not that the fight with Movsar wouldn’t be fun. I think two grapplers, the way we grapple, would have some very fun scrambles…I think when you have a style like mine and his, it could make for a fun fight, the same way Diego Lopes made it a fun fight” (h/t MMA Mania).

Unbeaten Featherweight Movsar Evloev Responds to the ‘Funk Master’

Responding to Sterling’s comment, Evloev commended the ex-champ’s bravery for seeking a fight against him — something few featherweight contenders are willing to do these days.

“@funkmasterMMA brave for you to talk about me. I like it! Call UFC and fight me. I’m ready,” Evloev wrote on X.

Evloev is a picture-perfect 18-0 in his mixed martial arts career with eight of those victories coming under the UFC banner. His most notable W’s have come against Dan Ige, Diego Lopes, and most recently, Arnold Allen.

Aljamain Sterling dubs his bland performance against Calvin Kattar ‘the most dominant fight’ at UFC 300

Aljamain Sterling delivered one of the most dominant performances of UFC 300. Unfortunately, it was also one of the…

Aljamain Sterling delivered one of the most dominant performances of UFC 300. Unfortunately, it was also one of the least exciting — so much so that the ‘Funk Master’ was the only fighter on the night who didn’t get a post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.

After surrendering his bantamweight title to ‘Sugar’ Sean O’Malley in August, Sterling made his move to featherweight official at the landmark event, squaring off with the returning Calvin Kattar who had been on the shelf since blowing out his knee in October 2022. Determined to make a statement in his divisional debut, many expected Sterling to snuff out a highlight-reel-worthy win, especially with a $300,000 performance bonus up for grabs.

But instead, Aljamain Sterling was content to smother Kattar for three rounds, utilizing his superior wrestling skills to keep the five-time Fight of the Night winner grounded and score an uninspired unanimous decision.

MMA fans inside T-Mobile Arena and those posting from around the world on X made it quite clear how unimpressed they were with the performance — something the ‘Funk Master’ was quick to defend, calling his victory at UFC 300 the most dominant of the night.

Aljamain Sterling says he had the most dominant performance on #UFC300:

“Our fight on that particular night was not the most entertaining. But it was the most dominant fight I think you could’ve possibly looked at from the entire card…

You got a guy who, on average, lands… pic.twitter.com/IQutVfbtXV

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) April 19, 2024

“Our fight on that particular night of UFC 300 was not the most entertaining,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel. “But it was the most dominant fight I think you could’ve possibly looked at from the entire card from top to bottom. I think I’m arguably the top 3 most dominant on that entire fight card from top to bottom.

“I think I’m arguably the top three most dominant on that entire fight card. So when you look at that, I think to keep it in perspective is, you got a guy [Kattar] who, on average, lands about 4-5 strikes per minute, who was reduced to about 0.5. over 15 minutes.”

Aljamain Sterling’s performance didn’t exactly set the world on fire, but it landed him inside the featherweight division’s top 10, taking the No. 8 spot.

Aljamain Sterling calls for a clash with T-City

Following his success at UFC 300, ‘Funk Master’ called for a clash with 145-pound mainstay and No. 3 ranked contender, Brian Ortega.

“Give me the next best guy,” Sterling said at the post-fight press conference. “I’ll take Brian Ortega, respectfully. He’s a guy I got to train with one time, same management, there’s no bad blood or anything like that. We’re both just trying to chase the same thing. It’s not like he’s my main training partner like Merab [Dvalishvili] was. It’s a different situation. I think I beat a guy like him, and I’m undeniable.”

T-City is coming off a third-round submission victory over former interim champion Yair Rodriguez in February.

Aljamain Sterling admits he was weighing up retirement if he lost at UFC 300: ‘I was probably done’

Receiving stark criticizm for his performance en route to a dominant shutout win over Calvin Kattar in his featherweight…

Receiving stark criticizm for his performance en route to a dominant shutout win over Calvin Kattar in his featherweight debut at UFC 300 over the course of last weekend, former bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling claims he was going to retire from MMA if he lost.

Sterling, a former undisputed bantamweight titleholder, made his first outing inside the Octagon over the weekend since his August knockout loss to Sean O’Malley in the pair’s heated title fight at 135lbs.

Aljamain Sterling UFC 300 Carmen Mandato 3

And making good on his first venture at the featherweight limit, Sterling took on fellow East Coast star, Kattar – turning in a one-sided unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) victory over the Boston native, wrestling and grappling his way to a fist victory in the weight class.

Aljamain Sterling UFC 300 Carmen Mandato 2

Aljamain Sterling reveals potential retirement at UFC 300

Receiving some notable criticizm from a vocal section of the mixed martial arts community for his grappling and wrestling-heavy game plan en route to his triumph, Sterling, who has landed at number eight in the official featherweight pile, revealed a defeat at UFC 300 would have likely ended his tenure in the sport.

“I think if I had got my ass completely handed kicked by Calvin Kattar, I was probably done,” Aljamain Sterling told MMA Fighting. “And no one knew about that. I didn’t share those sentiments with anybody, even my fiancee. It’s just one of those things.”

“I mentioned to her like, ‘Well, if I can’t beat him (Kattar), I don’t know,” Aljamain Sterling explained. “But I didn’t really go into detail what that actually meant. I just kind of said like, ‘We’ll see what happens. I don’t know what’s going to happen’. That’s kind of the way I kept it with everybody.”

Aljamain Sterling UFC 300 Carmen Mandato

Eyeing a potential title-eliminator in his sophomore outing at the featherweight limit, Serra-Longo MMA staple, Sterling weighed up the chance to fight either Movsar Evloev in his return, if not a clash with former title challenger, Brian Ortega next.

Who would you like to see Aljamain Sterling fight next?

7 Fights We Need to See After UFC 300

Saturday’s stacked UFC 300 card in Las Vegas was expected to be one of the biggest events in the promotion’s history, and in the end, it surpassed all…

Video – Ex-UFC champ Aljamain Sterling ready to throw hands in prank gone wrong: ‘Stop playing with me’

A prank on former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling nearly turned disastrous. In the video clip, which you can…

A prank on former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling nearly turned disastrous.

In the video clip, which you can see below, Sterling is sitting at a table, minding his business, and scrolling through his phone when another individual wearing a VR headset approaches and mistakes him for a woman.

Clearly, the ‘Funk Master’ was in no mood for shenanigans. And as expected, the comments from UFC fans on X did not disappoint.

Aljamain Sterling gearing up for his featherweight debut at UFC 300

After surrendering the bantamweight title to Sean O’Malley at UFC 292 last August, Aljamain Sterling is ready to conquer a new division. On Saturday, April 13, the ‘Funk Master’ will make his featherweight debut as a part of the promotion’s loaded UFC 300 card in Las Vegas. Welcoming Sterling to the division will be Calvin Kattar.

It will be Kattar’s first fight since suffering an injury against Arnold Allen in October 2022. ‘The Boston Finisher’ goes into the bout having lost three of his last four. Despite that, he’s still holding strong at No. 7 in the division.

Coach reveals Merab Dvalishvili fought Aljamain Sterling for three rounds before UFC 298 win over Henry Cejudo

UFC bantamweight Merab Dvalishvili confirms backstage sparring story prior to his UFC 298 win this past weekend. After beating…

UFC bantamweight Merab Dvalishvili confirms backstage sparring story prior to his UFC 298 win this past weekend.

After beating Henry Cejudo over three rounds, Dvalishvili has now beaten three former champions in his past three fights. The proud Georgian would outpace and out-grapple the former Olympic gold medallist, securing himself a shot at the 135lb title.

It was a classic Dvalishvili performance filled with relentless pace and pressure, the 33-year-old never seems to slow down no matter how many takedowns he may attempt.

What could make the result even better is that according to Merab Dvalishvili’s coach, Ray Longo, the No.1 ranked bantamweight went an intense 3×5 minute rounds with Aljamain Sterling as a part of the warmup.

“Literally fought Aljo three rounds,” Longo said on The Anik & Florian Podcast. “Like f***ing brutal, little gloves on, swinging for the f***ing fences. Like Aljo complains about my boxing class sometimes, but that’s way worse what I just saw. Dude, they went at it three-five, so yeah, that’s the second fight of the night.”

Appearing on the MMA Hour yesterday, Dvalishvili confirmed the series of events, even claiming that the rounds with Sterling were harder than the actual fight.

“Yeah, yeah,” Dvalishvili answered. “That’s how we warm up, we are best friends, training partners, we beat each other and make each other better and then we are ready for anybody else.”

Dana White confirms Merab Dvalishvili title shot next

While UFC CEO White claims he does not make fights the night of an event, during the post-fight media conference would at least confirm that Dvalishvili would be next. He will face either Sean O’Malley or Marlon Vera with the pair fighting for the belt on March 9.

“He looked good tonight, man,” White said. “He did what he had (to do).”

Will Merab Dvalishvili become UFC champion?