Aljamain Sterling says goodbye to 135 pounds as he announces plans to take over UFC’s featherweight division - “I’m gonna shock the world”
Aljamain Sterling appears to be done competing at 135 pounds and outlined his plans for his foray into the UFC featherweight division.
The former bantamweight champion is scheduled to make his featherweight debut at UFC 300, where he'll fight No.7-ranked Calvin Kattar. While speaking to MMA Junkie, he mentioned that his bout against Sean O'Malley was his final at bantamweight and has no desire of returning to the weight division he once ruled.
Sterling said:
"Safe to say [I'm done at bantamweight]. One of my managers was asking about that, about going down to 135 [pounds] and I said, 'Brother, let's stop this conversation right here.' There's no more 135. I didn't even want to do it the last time...135 is done."
'Funk Master' brought up that he is excited to be competing at a heavier weight because he won't have to devote as much time to cutting weight as he did when competing at bantamweight. He mentioned that he feels great and plans on making a statement against Kattar, saying:
"I'm gonna have new life, new energy at this weight class, and I'm definitely nervous cause I'm used to being the bigger guy even though I don't get that big when I rehydrate at [1]35. But, I think I left some stuff in the gym cutting down to 135 [pounds], so I'd like to see what I could do at 145 [pounds] and I think I'm gonna shock the world."
It will be interesting to see how Sterling fares in his featherweight debut now that he doesn't have to worry about cutting the extra 10 pounds to make weight.
Aljamain Sterling reacts to Anthony Joshua vs. Francis Ngannou announcement
Like many others in the MMA community, Aljamain Sterling reacted after it was officially announced that Francis Ngannou would be returning to the ring for a boxing bout against Anthony Joshua.
MMA journalist Ariel Helwani took to his X account, where he reported the news that Joshua vs. Ngannou would take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Mar. 8. The tweet caught the attention of the former UFC bantamweight champion, who shared his thoughts and expressed his excitement for the bout:
"Can’t wait to see this!"