Aljamain Sterling thinks he’s one win away from securing a featherweight championship alternative.
After securing a dominant unanimous resolution victory over perennial contender and one-time title challenger Brian Ortega in Shanghai, Sterling continued to inch his method 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 feel the subsequent attainable matchup can 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 may’t deny me. Who else can be there? Like let’s say you get previous Ortega, then yet another is smart. At first it appeared like they have 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 arms, good energy.”
Aljamain Sterling reveals harm he suffered in his win over Ortega
Sadly, Sterling’s large win over ‘T-Metropolis’ got here with one other setback.
“So I obtained 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 obtained 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 just a little bit saddened by that as a result of clearly the momentum, driving a wave proper now, then that occurs,” Sterling added. “I’m pondering 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.”
