This coming weekend at UFC 310, Aljamain Sterling is finally set to make his second appearance at featherweight, following his successful weight class debut back at UFC 300.
After losing the UFC bantamweight title to Sean O’Malley back at UFC 292, Aljamain Sterling eventually made the decision to move up to 145lbs in pursuit of the featherweight title.
At the historic UFC 300 event this past April, ‘Funkmaster’ marked his debut in the weight class with an impressive win over Calvin Kattar, immediately cracking the top 10 of the division.
Aljamain Sterling comments on UFC 310 card placement as he’s buried in the prelims
The former 135lb champion was scheduled to take on Movsar Evloev in what was likely a number-one contender fight this past October at UFC 307, however, Sterling suffered a shoulder injury and withdrew from the bout.
Despite that, the promotion rescheduled the big featherweight fight to take place at UFC 310, with it likely having big bearings on the top of the division.
However, with UFC 310 set to take place this coming weekend December 7, the bout order has been released and shockingly, Sterling’s fight against the undefeated Russian is buried on the prelim portion of the event.
This isn’t the first time since losing the title Sterling has featured on the prelim portion of an event, as his fight against Kattar also came early into the UFC 300 night, however, that card was substantially more stacked than UFC 310.
“I didn’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 try and look at everything in life,” Sterling said in a video on his YouTube channel.
“I get to fight earlier and get to be done earlier. 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 I am a main card fighter. I think people are 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,” Sterling continued.
Although ‘Funkmaster’ is seemingly unfazed, yet confused, the UFC’s decision to place this on the prelims could have to do with Dana White’s assessment of Evloev’s last fight against Arnold Allen, as the UFC CEO labeled it as ‘super dull’ and one of the ‘worst fights ever’.
The current UFC 310 bout order as two former champions on the prelims
Sterling isn’t the only former champion who is set to feature on the preliminary card this coming Saturday, as former middleweight champion, Chris Weidman is also scheduled for an early fight.
‘The All-American’ was set to fight Eryk Anders at UFC 309 this past November, but hours before the bout, Anders withdrew because of food poisoning.
Weidman revealed shortly after that he hadn’t been paid his full purse for weighing in and being ready to fight, and instead, was given the opportunity for a catchweight bout this Saturday.
Evloev vs Sterling isn’t even set to be the featured prelim fight as that spot is currently taken up by Dominick Reyes and Anthony Smith.
Sterling and Evloev are currently set to clash in the second fight of the preliminary portion of the event, however, the bout order is still subject to change.
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