Aljamain Sterling shares high praise for Youssef Zalal ahead of UFC Vegas 116: ‘Very intriguing puzzle’

Aljamain Sterling knows beating Youssef Zalal at UFC Vegas 116 won’t be easy.

Sterling is set to headline the Fight Night card on April 25 at the Apex in a pivotal fight at featherweight. The winner of the fight could very well get the next title shot, so the stakes are high.

Heading into the fight, Sterling knows Zalal is a tough out. He also calls him one of the toughest guys to beat at featherweight.

“I think it’s a fantastic matchup,” Sterling said of Zalal on his YouTube channel (via MMAJunkie).  “He’s high level. I think he’s one of the harder guys to beat in the division, if I’m being 100 percent honest. “You look at a guy like Movsar (Evloev), you look at a guy like Zalal.

“He can move his feet a lot better than a lot of these guys. He’s hard to hit. I think when it comes to the two of us, both of us do a good job of avoiding damage and being able to damage. And that’s the name of our game.”

Aljamain Sterling knows beating Youssef Zalal won’t be easy

Although Sterling knows Zalal is a tough fight, he admits this isn’t what he wanted.

Aljamain Sterling was hoping to get a title shot, but he knows beating Zalal will help him secure that title shot.

“I think that’s going to be the difference in this: who wants to take that leap and cross that line and change up their style to get to the other guy? That’s what’s going to make it such a high-level chess match,” Sterling said. “He’s got a fantastic jab – I know this firsthand from training. Great calf kicks – I’ve got great calf kicks, as well. I’ve got a really solid jab, myself.

“He’s a little bit taller, a little bit longer with the reach, and the height gives him a little more of the reach advantage, and he can grapple. He’s got great timing on his entries, as do I, so this is going to be a very intriguing puzzle for me to try to figure out. … Hopefully I could go out there and make it look good or at least entertaining, then I could get the win and push my case forward to getting a title shot. And hopefully get to challenge the greatest featherweight of all time, Volkanovski.”

Sterling is coming off a decision win over Brian Ortega to return to the win column.

Do you think Aljamain Sterling will beat Youssef Zalal at UFC Vegas 116?