Aljamain Sterling News

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.

Dylan Bowker - September 4, 2025

Aljamain Sterling wants shady management in mixed martial arts to be spotlighted as he weighed in on some discourse around the UFC’s recent fighter settlement situation. The official X account of Mixed Martial Arts Fighters Association, which has advocated for the rights of MMA fighters since 2009, tweeted out a message on this subject, which said, “A public service announcement: All “managers” trying to claim a percentage of fighters settlements-please announce yourselves in public. You did nothing to change the status quo, you did nothing to assist the lawsuit, and you feel entitled to payment? Who are you? Announce.”

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 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.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - August 21, 2025

Brian Ortega isn’t convinced that he’ll get credit if he gets past Aljamain Sterling. Ortega and Sterling are scheduled to collide on Saturday. Their featherweight clash will serve as the co-main event of UFC Shanghai. Both men are coming off losses and could use a boost to stay relevant in the 145-pound title conversation.

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.

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 - August 1, 2025

Aljamain Sterling has explained why his former rival Petr Yan is such a special fighter after his win over Marcus McGhee. Following his recent win over Marcus McGhee, Petr Yan has now won three on the bounce in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. While we all know that the bantamweight division is absolutely stacked, there’s every chance that he could earn himself another crack at the title in the not-so-distant future.

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)

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 - June 7, 2025

Former UFC champion Aljamain Sterling has voiced his confusion at Sean O’Malley’s rise to superstardom in mixed martial arts. As we know, Sean O’Malley is one of the bigger names in the mixed martial arts game these days. While he’s no longer bantamweight champion after losing the strap to Merab Dvalishvili, he has the chance to win the belt back against the very same man later tonight. Of course, when ‘Suga’ captured it in the first place, he beat Merab’s good friend Aljamain Sterling in order to do so.

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.

Cole Shelton - April 3, 2025

Former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling wasn’t surprised that Sean O’Malley to an immediate rematch against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 316 on June 7. O’Malley lost his UFC bantamweight title to Dvalishvili last September at UFC 306 at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Since then, O’Malley has yet to fight against, while Dvalishvili beat Umar Nurmagomedov to defend his belt for the first time.

Fernando Quiles Jr. - March 12, 2025

An ex-UFC champion has his own take on what may have led to Alex Pereira’s performance at UFC 313. Fans have grown accustomed to seeing “Poatan” walk forward no matter what dangers his opponent may possess. In the main event of UFC 313, Pereira had to prepare for the threat of takedowns from Magomed Ankalaev. Even so, many were stunned to see Pereira backing up throughout his unsuccessful UFC Light Heavyweight Championship defense against the well-rounded fighter from Dagestan.