Undefeated UFC featherweight claps back at Aljamain Sterling's callout: "I want to get done with you as soon as possible"
There is no love lost between Aljamain Sterling and Movsar Evloev. The unbeaten Russian recently responded to an X/Twitter jab from 'Funk Master,' who proclaimed him the UFC's most boring fighter in a social media callout for a featherweight title eliminator.
Naturally, Evloev did not take kindly to Sterling's words. While he accepted the former bantamweight champion's challenge, he dismissed him as a serious challenger, punctuating his response by expressing his intention to beat Sterling quickly so that he could focus on 'real' challenges. Evloev said:
"Just don't try to push the date of your beating too far. I want to get done with you as soon as possible and move on to real challenges."
Despite Evloev's dismissal of the danger Sterling poses as an opponent, the all-time great 135-pound champion had an impressive debut against featherweight power-puncher Calvin Kattar, who he outwrestled and outgrappled en route to a dominant unanimous decision.
Meanwhile, Evloev is currently undefeated, having won all 8 fights under the UFC banner. Unfortunately, all of his wins in the promotion have been decisions, whether unanimous or split. This marks a departure from his run of form prior to signing with the UFC, when he was finishing most of his opponents.
Like Sterling, Evloev is eager for a title shot, but has struggled to draw fan intrigue, largely due to his low-finishing rate and wrestling-heavy fighting style, which even Dana White is reportedly not a fan of. Nevertheless, he is 18-0 and was previously linked to Ilia Topuria before the Spaniard's championship ascension.
Aljamain Sterling expressed interest in a featherweight title shot before
Before his bantamweight title loss to Sean O'Malley at UFC 292, Aljamain Sterling was the promotion's 135-pound champion. Moreover, he was at the helm of a historic reign, and sought to parlay his success into a title shot in the weight class above, where he would have faced then champion Alexander Volkanovski.
Unfortunately for Sterling, his knockout loss to O'Malley derailed his plans, while the Australian subsequently lost his featherweight strap to Ilia Topuria, nixing a matchup that could have been but may never be now, unless both men agree to face each other in a title eliminator.