Aljamain Sterling made his featherweight debut against Calvin Kattar in the prelims of UFC 300 in a fight he won via unanimous decision. The fight was his first since he lost the bantamweight title to Sean O’Malley at UFC 292.
Before he fought O’Malley, against whom he was a big betting favorite, Sterling had made known his featherweight title aspirations. On his Weekly Scraps podcast, Sterling revealed the conversation with UFC CEO Dana White about it.
“I asked Dana for the 145 shot at (Alexander) Volkanovski, and he said if I had beaten (Sean) O’Malley, he would have given me a shot to go up there to 145,” said Sterling. He also added, “I think I was skilled enough, and I think I still am skilled enough to compete with a guy like Volkanovski.”
Unfortunately for Sterling, things did not go as planned as O’Malley TKOed him in the second round. Even though he was a dominant long-reigning champion in the division, Sterling did not get a title shot and O’Malley went to defend the title against Marlon Vera at UFC 299.
Surprisingly, O’Malley called out Ilia Topuria after he defended the title as Topuria had dethroned Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 298. Interestingly, Aljamain Sterling had planned to challenge Topuria with a finish against Kattar but his performance did not get a finish.
Aljamain Sterling at UFC 300
Aljamain Sterling was among the 12 champions or ex-champions who fought on the coveted UFC 300. Unfortunately, he was the only fighter who could not get a post-fight speech with Joe Rogan due to the production delay. The fact that his fight against Kattar ended in a decision victory did not help his case either.
Nonetheless, Sterling showcased a dominant display of wrestling and grappling in his featherweight debut against Calvin Kattar. The Bostonian could not mount any offense against The Funkmaster due to the latter’s impressive grappling threat. Interestingly, Sterling even did Undertaker’s piledriver-like move on his opponent, the only time the crowd applauded the fight.
Even though he did not get a post-fight speech to call out his next fight, he made it known at the post-fight press conference that he wanted to fight Brian Ortega, a two-time title challenger. Moreover, he has also called out the undefeated Movsar Evloev who has responded to the callout per MMAJunkie.
Do you think Aljamain Sterling can become the featherweight champion in the UFC? Leave your prediction below!
