Aljamain Sterling News

Harry Kettle - September 16, 2025

Aljamain Sterling’s coach Ray Longo believes that his student deserves a shot at the UFC featherweight championship. As we know, Aljamain Sterling is a former UFC bantamweight champion – and he’s doing pretty well up at featherweight, too. At this point in his career, though, you’d have to imagine that if he’s going to get a crack at becoming a two-weight world champ, it needs to happen sooner rather than later.

Cole Shelton - September 15, 2025

Aljamain Sterling believes a fight against Lerone Murphy makes the most sense. The featherweight title picture is murky as Sterling, Murphy, and Movsar Evloev all could get the next title shot against Alexander Volkanovski. However, Sterling believes Evloev – who’s undefeated – should get the shot, and he should face Murphy in a No. 1 contender bout.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - September 15, 2025

Lerone Murphy heard a suggestion to have Aljamain Sterling and Diego Lopes fight in a title eliminator and he will have none of it. Murphy believes he has earned the right to challenge Alexander Volkanovski for the UFC Featherweight Championship. Murphy delivered a spectacular spinning back elbow knockout in his bout with Aaron Pico back in August. Volkanovski was impressed by Murphy’s outing and agreed that the two should meet with the 145-pound gold at stake.

Harry Kettle - September 15, 2025

Former UFC champion Aljamain Sterling is interested in fighting Diego Lopes following the latter’s Noche UFC victory. On Saturday night, Diego Lopes made a real statement by dusting off Jean Silva in the main event of Noche UFC. It was the kind of statement performance that made the masses sit up and take notice, and that includes Aljamain Sterling, who has floated the idea of taking on Lopes in the past.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - August 28, 2025

Aljamain Sterling emerged victorious at UFC Shanghai, but some damage was done. Sterling had a one-sided showing against Brian Ortega in their five-round featherweight clash. It was a clean sweep for “Funkmaster,” who secured 50-45 scores from all three judges. It was a big win for Sterling, who now finds himself in the top five featherweight rankings.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - August 24, 2025

Aljamain Sterling walked out of UFC Shanghai with a win over Brian Ortega, and he says one aspect of the fight makes the victory that much sweeter. Sterling entered his five-round matchup against Ortega on Saturday looking to remain relevant in the featherweight division. He hadn’t competed since a unanimous decision loss to Movsar Evloev in late 2024. “Funkmaster” was able to rebound by defeating “T-City.” It was a clean sweep for Sterling, who earned score totals of 50-45 across the board.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - August 22, 2025

A main card UFC Shanghai fighter has some guidance for Aaron Pico. Pico entered his UFC debut with some buzz, but he was thrown to the wolves immediately. The former Bellator and PFL standout shared the Octagon with Lerone Murphy in the UFC 319 co-headliner. Pico ran into a spinning back elbow that shut his lights off. One criticism of Pico throughout his career has been over aggression, and it cost him once again.

Harry Kettle - August 22, 2025

Tomorrow night’s Aljamain Sterling vs Brian Ortega fight will now take place at a catchweight of 153 pounds. This weekend, Aljamain Sterling and Brian Ortega will meet in what was set to be a crucial featherweight contest. Both men have got ambitions of going after another title shot, and both men are known for being pretty solid on the ground. It has the potential to be one of the most intriguing bouts of the year, and it’ll take place in the co-main event of UFC Shanghai.

Harry Kettle - August 21, 2025

UFC featherweight Brian Ortega is prepared for war when he meets Aljamain Sterling at UFC Shanghai this weekend. For the longest time now, Brian Ortega has been viewed as a legitimate contender in the UFC’s featherweight division. He’s even come pretty close to becoming world champion on a few occasions, most notably when he was able to sink in two incredibly deep submission holds against Alexander Volkanovski. Alas, it wasn’t quite meant to be.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - August 20, 2025

Aljamain Sterling isn’t gung-ho about his fight with Brian Ortega being scheduled for five rounds. Sterling and Ortega are set to collide on Saturday in the co-main event of UFC Shanghai. Despite not being the headliner, “Funkmaster” vs. “T-City” will be contested for five rounds if necessary. This doesn’t sit well with the former UFC Bantamweight Champion.

Cole Shelton - August 20, 2025

In the co-main event of UFC Shanghai, featherweight contenders throw down as Brian Ortega takes on Aljamain Sterling. Heading into the bout, Ortega is a +200 underdog while the former bantamweight champ is a -265 favorite on FanDuel. Ahead of the scrap at UFC Shanghai, BJPENN.com reached out to several pro fighters to get their predictions for the intriguing featherweight bout, which is a five-round co-main event. The pros agree with the oddsmakers as they expect Sterling to get his hand raised and get closer to a title shot.

Cole Shelton - August 19, 2025

Aljamain Sterling still believes in Aaron Pico despite his debut loss at UFC 319. Sterling, the former UFC bantamweight champion and now seventh-ranked featherweight contender, was paying close attention to the Pico vs Lerone Murphy fight at UFC 319. Sterling felt like Pico was looking good until he got knocked out, but his chin is a concern.

Harry Kettle - July 10, 2025

The Ultimate Fighting Championship heads back to China next month for UFC Shanghai – and the card is looking pretty interesting. Event: UFC Shanghai: Walker vs Mingyang Date: Saturday, 23rd August 2025 Location: Shanghai Indoor Stadium (Shanghai, China) Broadcast: ESPN+, UFC Fight Pass (7am EST main card)

BJ Penn Staff - June 11, 2025

Merab Dvalishvili and Aljamain Sterling are two of the best bantamweights in UFC history. Interestingly, they’re also close friends and training partners. Sterling held the UFC bantamweight belt first. He won it with a disqualification against Petr Yan in 2021, and then defended it three times, against Yan, TJ Dillashaw and Henry Cejudo. He ultimately lost the belt to Sean O’Malley, who went on to lose the belt to Dvalishvili.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - June 8, 2025

Merab Dvalishvili says one key name played a huge role in his successful training camp for UFC 316. Dvalishvili put his bantamweight title at stake against Sean O’Malley in a rematch on Saturday. Dvalishvili captured the 135-pound gold from “Suga” in their first encounter. In the rematch, Dvalishvili secured a north-south choke in the third round to maintain his hold on the gold. It marks O’Malley’s first submission defeat in pro MMA competition.

Harry Kettle - June 8, 2025

Aljamain Sterling has called for a rematch against Sean O’Malley after the latter’s second straight loss to Merab Dvalishvili. Last night, Sean O’Malley fell to a second straight defeat at the hands of Merab Dvalishvili. This time, though, was perhaps even worse for ‘Suga’, as he was submitted by the man known as ‘The Machine’. It was a tense and tight affair through the first two rounds but once Dvalishvili got a controlling position, things seemed to be fairly one-sided until the finish.

Harry Kettle - May 16, 2025

Former UFC champion TJ Dillashaw admits that he was delusionally optimistic heading into his title fight against Aljamain Sterling. These days, TJ Dillashaw is enjoying his mixed martial arts retirement. His career was full of many ups and downs, including multiple title wins, weight class changes, controversial decisions, doping violations and injuries. The latter, of course, wound up being the defining story of his retirement, in a lot of ways.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - April 4, 2025

Aljamain Sterling isn’t convinced that Sean O’Malley’s lifestyle adjustments are the answer to his hopes of regaining UFC gold. O’Malley lost the UFC Bantamweight Championship to Merab Dvalishvili in their UFC 306 title fight back in Sept. 2024. The “Sugar” show had to be sidelined after undergoing surgery for a torn labrum in his left hip. Upon his return to action, O’Malley will be receiving a title rematch against “The Machine” at UFC 316 on June 7.