Aljamain
Sterling (24-4) believes the
UFC will regret not putting his matchup against Movsar
Evloev (18-0) on the main card.
Sterling and Evloev will clash on the prelims at UFC 310
on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The former UFC
bantamweight champ isn’t even part of the evening’s featured
preliminary bout, as that position instead goes to Dominick
Reyes and Anthony
Smith.
While Sterling is confused by his placement on the card, he chooses
to see the positive side of fighting on the prelims. “Funkmaster”
is glad that he will be done early and hopefully get to celebrate a
win with his friends while enjoying the rest of the card.
While both Sterling and Evloev are among the best featherweights in
the world, neither has the most fan-friendly style. Both Sterling
and Evloev have often been criticized for lackluster performances
and the lack of finishes on their records. However, Sterling
believes both fans and the promotion are in for a big surprise at
UFC 310.
“I don’t know if I should have been insulted by the placement on
the fight card or glass half full. I guess that’s the best way I
can try to look at everything in life,” Sterling said on his
YouTube channel. “I get to fight earlier, get to be done earlier,
get to pop open a fresh bottle of Funk Harbor, hang out with the
friends and celebrate a big win. I was a little confused by it, of
course. I guess they have their rhyme or reason for what they do,
the UFC brass. And it is what it is. At the end of the day, it’s
not my organization. I don’t call the shots. I just go out there
and compete. And it’s up to me to go out there and prove these guys
wrong. That, ‘Hey, we are and I am a main card fighter.’ I think
people are gonna be in for a very big surprise. And the UFC is
gonna realize, ‘We messed up big time by not putting this on the
main card.’”
Aljamain Sterling reacts to his fight
against Movsar Evloev being placed on the
#UFC310 prelims:“I am a main card fighter… The UFC is gonna realize ‘we messed up
big time by not putting this on the main card’.”🎥 @funkmasterMMA
#UFC
#MMApic.twitter.com/StTUBWKCdY— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS)
December 2, 2024
Sterling’s bantamweight title reign ended with a knockout loss
against Sean O’Malley at UFC 292 last year. Sterling has since
moved up to featherweight, scoring a dominant decision win over
Calvin
Kattar in his divisional debut at UFC 300 this past April.
Meanwhile, Evloev has been victorious in his first eight
promotional appearances, the latest of which came against Arnold
Allen at UFC 297 this past January.