Aljamain Sterling thinks he’s one win away from securing a featherweight championship alternative.
After securing a dominant unanimous decision victory over perennial contender and one-time title challenger Brian Ortega in Shanghai, Sterling continued to inch his means up the featherweight rankings.
Now sitting because the fifth-ranked contender within the division, the previous bantamweight king believes he’s only one win away from a crack at present 145-pound titleholder Alexander Volkanovski.
“I believe the subsequent potential matchup could be Diego Lopez or Yair Rodriguez,” Sterling mentioned throughout an look on the Pound 4 Pound podcast with Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo. “At that time you’ll be able to’t deny me. Who else could be there? Like let’s say you get previous Ortega, then another is sensible. At first it appeared like they had been going to go along with Yair Rodriguez, however as a result of he began there was a backlash and the UFC stepped away.
“Now they’re wanting on the winner of potential Aaron Pico and Aloy. I really feel like if Aaron Pico breaks on this dude, he’s subsequent. The UFC actually likes him. Stylistically, he could possibly be very problematic, even for Vog. Heavy palms, good energy.”
Aljamain Sterling reveals harm he suffered in his win over Ortega
Sadly, Sterling’s massive win over ‘T-Metropolis’ got here with one other setback.
“So I acquired my MRI again: Grade 2 tear in my tricep,” Sterling mentioned on his YouTube channel. “However they mentioned pressure. As he’s studying the report, he goes, ‘Grade 2 pressure.’ So I’m relaxed, I’m chilling. I’m like, ‘Oh, it’s nothing. It’s only a pressure. I’ll be again, no downside. That’s not like a tear or something.’ Ryan goes, ‘A pressure is a tear. What are you speaking about?’ However yeah, I’ve acquired a partial tear in my tricep tendon. The factor continues to be a balloon.”
Regardless of the harm, Sterling is holding out hope that he could be again contained in the Octagon earlier than the top of 2025.
“I’m a bit of bit saddened by that as a result of clearly the momentum, using a wave proper now, then that occurs,” Sterling added. “I’m considering perhaps I could be again and able to compete by December, which I nonetheless suppose I can. It simply depends upon how briskly this heals.”
