Aljamain Sterling says the UFC matchmaking is “110% not what it used to be”

The UFC has announced the first marquee bouts to kick off their new Paramount deal, and it did not seem to impress Aljamain Sterling. The reaction of the former bantamweight champion seems to be a more emerging microcosm of a sentiment regarding the UFC matchmaking not being as potent as it once was.

This particular bit of discourse kicked off when widely known media personality Ariel Helwani took to his personal X account to offer his thoughts on some of the announced bouts for UFC 324, as Helwani quipped,

“Next time you’re told we make the best fights remember this moment: 1. Gaethje/Paddy with Arman ready 2. Volk/Diego with Movsar and Lerone ready 3. Islam/Usman (presumably) with Shavkat, Morales, Prates, Garry all ready And an interim title fight – not featuring the top contender – over one of the best female fights ever.”

In his response to the tenured combat sports journalist’s thoughts on the January 2026 UFC offering at this juncture with Justin Gaethje vs. Paddy Pimblett for interim lightweight gold and a bantamweight title clash between Kayla Harrison and the returning Amanda Nunes, Sterling said,

“It’s 110% not what it used to be. I ride for the company but this s**t is beyond frustrating! I get their POV, but stop saying we give the fans the fights that they want to see and we make the BEST fight the BEST! It’s way more frequent now and extremely hard to ignore. Especially at your weight class.”

Aljamain Sterling is also not keen on UFC 325 booking

Aljamain Sterling also didn’t shy away from giving the UFC 325 headliner some flak as he focused on a fight that is directly tied to his chosen weight category. With Sterling being a ranked 145-pound fighter now, it’s fair for him to weigh in on the next featherweight championship fight, and Sterling is not impressed that Alexander Volkanovski will be making the first defense of this new title reign against the man he claimed the belt from.

Volkanovski vs. Diego Lopes 2 has been drawing several negative responses, and via his personal X account to touch on the January 31st main event in Sydney, Sterling stated,

“I agree with Lerone [Murphy]. Even if I didn’t get it, him or Movsar [Evloev] for sure should’ve been the guy. Movsar got passed over by Lopes once, and he gets another opportunity for gold lol. Fair play to Lopes, but you can see why guys start to lose love for the game. Cold world.”

Sterling gave a bit of a tip of the cap to his former opponent Movsar Evloev, with the latter defeating the former by way of unanimous decision at UFC 310.