Athletes
Aljamain Sterling Out To Make A Statement
Featherweight Contender Talks Title Ambitions, Importance Of Dominating Against Youssef Zalal
Aljamain Sterling has a goal in mind — an opportunity he would like to see come his way — and his return to action this weekend in a five-round main event clash with ascending contender Youssef Zalal feels like the next step in doing his part to try and reach that goal.
“I guess what makes this the right fight for me is that I’m facing a surging, hot prospect; someone who has been cut from the UFC, came back, and had a career resurgence,” Sterling said. “He’s beaten Calvin Kattar, Josh Emmett — some really tough dudes — and of course there was Jack Shore who was a top-ranked bantamweight before moving up to featherweight… He’s a very unique and interesting puzzle to try to figure out, so I’m excited about the challenge and the test. I think beating a guy like this makes me undeniable.”
RELATED: Zalal Living With Purpose | Zalal Sit-Down Interview
That last bit is the real impetus behind accepting this fight and testing himself against the streaking 29-year-old, who has won five straight since returning to the promotion a touch over two years ago to climb to No. 7 in the divisional rankings.
Sterling has made it clear that he wants to share the Octagon with Alexander Volkanovski and challenge for the featherweight title, which would give him a chance to join the exclusive group of 11 athletes to have held championship gold in two weight classes. He began making the case following his unanimous decision win over Brian Ortega last August in Shanghai and has continued to lobby for the chance heading into this weekend’s matchup with Zalal, especially with the presumptive pairing between Volkanovski and No. 1 contender Movsar Evloev not yet announced.
“At this point in my career, I kind of just want to fight the bigger names, because I don’t have a lot of walks left, right?” he said candidly. “Speaking from a realistic standpoint, I’m 36. I’ll be 37 in July. I don’t have a ton of walks left, so it would make sense for myself and the UFC to give me the fights that make sense. Give me the legends or the guys with the bigger names; make the biggest fights you can make while we’re on our way out… This is a situation where I get to fight another young buck and I hope that if I go out there and turn back the young buck, my efforts are rewarded with a title shot and opportunity to fight for another title and become a two-division champion.”
Sterling is one of those athletes whose achievements are not spoken about with the same level of esteem and reverence as some of his contemporaries, even though he’s still tied with his longtime teammate and friend Merab Dvalishvhili for the most consecutive successful title defenses in the history of the bantamweight division (three) and has posted a 17-5 mark inside the Octagon, with a number of wins over former champions, title challengers, and perennial contenders. However, he’s landed at featherweight during a time when there are exciting, young names on the come-up, and his dominant, but grinding wins over fellow veterans like Ortega and Calvin Kattar just don’t hit the way the performances of those around him, including Zalal, have resonated in recent years.
Watch This And Every UFC Event On Paramount+
That’s why Saturday’s pairing is crucial for the aging Top 5 talent.
“(Zalal) is a very elusive guy — he has great footwork, like a Cory Sandhagen; he’s hard to hit,” Sterling said. “I call him ‘Youssef the Elusive’ because of the way he moves his feet, he’s hard to hit… I think guys get frustrated chasing him around while he’s jabbing them in the face, calf-kicking them to death. They get frustrated, start chasing him, and start swinging and missing. We’ve got a different game plan. I’m not swinging and missing. I’m aiming and firing, and the plan is to corner him, take his a** down and do what I do best: backpack him up.
Aljamain Sterling | Top Finishes
Unlock MORE of your inner combat sports fan with UFC Fight Pass! Fighting is what we live for. And no one brings you MORE live fights, new shows, and events across multiple combat sports from around the world. With a never-ending supply of fighting in every discipline, there`s always something new to watch. Leave it to the world`s authority in MMA to bring you the Ultimate 24/7 platform for MORE combat sports, UFC Fight Pass!
Aljamain Sterling | Top Finishes
/
“If I go out there and do my job against a tough competitor like this, I think it really makes me undeniable. This is a very hard fight for anyone in the Top 5. Youssef is a very educated guy when he gets in there; he’s not making the same silly mistakes he was making when he was younger. He’s a lot more calculated, and now, it seems like he’s got a new confidence about him, but it’s up to me to break that and give him a way out. I’m planning to break him down a bit and show him the door; put him in one of those tough positions and force him to tap.”
MORE UFC FIGHT NIGHT: Youssef Zalal Win Streak | Raoni Barcelos Eyes Return To Rankings | Montague Too Motivated To Fail | Garcia Inspired By A Legend
While he acknowledged that he has fewer fights ahead of him than he does behind him, Sterling also admitted that there is tremendous value in being one of the “old heads” in the sport.
As much as there has long been discussions about an athletes’ prime and what constitutes being “too old” to still be an elite talent, there are more and more seasoned talents north of 35 having success inside the Octagon now than in years past, including Volkanovski, who has single-handedly re-written the narrative surrounding champions of a certain age in the lighter weight classes.
So what is it about being an “Unc” that is such an advantage?
“I think that the difference (when you get older) is being able to keep your body fresh enough to where you’ve gained that experience and you can capitalize on it as best as you can,” Sterling said with a smile. “I think having that championship experience, the five-round experiences at a high level — I fought a murderer’s row of guys — all guys that were hot prospects at the time, three Top 5 guys in the bantamweight division and was able to turn them back impressively.
WATCH: Aljamain Sterling Fight Week Interview
“I think it helps out at an older age because you know how to dictate the pace of the fight and you know how to take the fight where you want it to go,” he added. “I think when you’re younger, you make more mistakes and you can get too greedy. I think that may happen. I think Youssef might get too greedy in some of these positions and allow me to do what I do best and that’s get the finish.”
Should that come to pass, expect to see an emotional and fully satisfied Sterling standing triumphant inside the Octagon on Saturday night; one that will surely make his case for a championship opportunity.
“It’s gonna mean everything to me,” he said. “It means the work was done and we did the right work. My goal for this is to dominate — to be big brother in there and show him that ‘Yeah we’ve trained together in the past, but you want something and I want it just as bad as you do, and my time is not up yet.’ … While this clock is ticking, I’m gonna make the most of the opportunities presented to me and I’m gonna try to go out there and cash out as best as I can. I need to make a statement, and if I can make a statement on April 25, I think it puts me right there in that conversation, especially because they haven’t announced Movsar (Evloev) versus (Alexander) Volkanovski yet, and a lot of people think I edged that fight out with Movsar.
“I think it puts me in the conversation to get a crack at the title, but it all starts with Youssef… ‘The Elusive.’ I gotta get my hands on that guy.”
UFC Fight Night: Sterling vs Zalal took place live from Meta APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 25, 2026. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
Tags