Aljamain Sterling Is Just One Win Away From a Featherweight Title Shot: ‘You Can’t Deny Me’
Aljamain Sterling thinks he’s one win away from securing a featherweight championship opportunity.
After securing a dominant unanimous decision victory over perennial contender and one-time title challenger Brian Ortega in Shanghai, Sterling continued to inch his way up the featherweight rankings.
Now sitting as the fifth-ranked contender in the division, the former bantamweight king believes he’s just one win away from a crack at current 145-pound titleholder Alexander Volkanovski.
“I think the next possible matchup would be Diego Lopez or Yair Rodriguez,” Sterling said during an appearance on the Pound 4 Pound podcast with Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo. “At that point you can’t deny me. Who else would be there? Like let’s say you get past Ortega, then one more makes sense. At first it seemed like they were going to go with Yair Rodriguez, but because he started there was a backlash and the UFC stepped away.
“Now they’re looking at the winner of potential Aaron Pico and Aloy. I feel like if Aaron Pico breaks on this dude, he’s next. The UFC really likes him. Stylistically, he could be very problematic, even for Vog. Heavy hands, good power.”
Aljamain Sterling reveals injury he suffered in his win over Ortega
Unfortunately, Sterling’s big win over ‘T-City’ came with another setback.
“So I got my MRI back: Grade 2 tear in my tricep,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel. “But they said strain. As he’s reading the report, he goes, ‘Grade 2 strain.’ So I’m relaxed, I’m chilling. I’m like, ‘Oh, it’s nothing. It’s just a strain. I’ll be back, no problem. That’s not like a tear or anything.’ Ryan goes, ‘A strain is a tear. What are you talking about?’ But yeah, I’ve got a partial tear in my tricep tendon. The thing is still a balloon.”
Despite the injury, Sterling is holding out hope that he can be back inside the Octagon before the end of 2025.
“I’m a little bit saddened by that because obviously the momentum, riding a wave right now, then that happens,” Sterling added. “I’m thinking maybe I can be back and ready to compete by December, which I still think I can. It just depends on how fast this heals.”
