Aljamain Sterling issues respectful callout to Max Holloway, sets narrative for clash from training partners to potential opponents
Former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling recently announced his move up to featherweight when he caught up with Demetrious Johnson on 'DJ's' The MIGHTYCast.
Now, 'The Funkmaster' has followed that up with a callout of Max Holloway, the former UFC featherweight champion. Sterling took to X (formerly Twitter), and wrote:
".@BlessedMMA From riding the bus together in December 2015, talking about what’s next and training together for my first visit to Hawaii- it would be an absolute honor to step in the octagon with you. Respectfully."
Check out Aljamain Sterling's tweet here:
Given his accomplishments at 135 lbs., Sterling certainly does merit a top contender as his first challenge at featherweight. With champion Alexander Volkanovski booked to face Ilia Topuria, on top of the fact that Holloway has faced Volkanovski three times - all unsuccessfully, Sterling's callout certainly makes sense.
For his part, Max Holloway is coming off an impressive win over 'The Korean Zombie,' and has fended off contender after contender, proving that him and Volkanovski are quite clearly on a different level to the rest of the division.
With Sterling moving up, Holloway will have a chance to cement his status and possibly secure a fourth fight against Volkanovski, or even against Topuria, if the Spaniard is to win in impressive fashion.
As of the time of writing, Holloway has not responded to Sterling's callout.
Aljamain Sterling reacts to Deiveson Figueiredo's move up to 135 lbs., thanks him for "motivation"
At UFC Austin, Deiveson Figueiredo's move up to bantamweight proved successful, as he shut out Rob Font to take home the unanimous decision win.
Since then, former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling has reacted to Figueiredo's success, as he took to X and wrote:
"This is super impressive from Figgy. I said he’d be too small but he’d be the faster guy in there and that Font will eventually wear on him put him down. Figgy proved me wrong and looks great at 135! Thanks for the motivation for my move up! #UFCAustin"
Figueiredo is also another fighter, much like Sterling, who is known to cut massive amounts of weight. As they have grown older, the weight cuts have proven to be progressively more difficult, prompting a move up for both men.