Aljamain Sterling sees his ticket to a title shot through being the UFC Fight Night 270 main event reserve.
Movsar Evloev (19-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) and Lerone Murphy (17-0-1 MMA, 9-0-1 UFC) will meet in a likely No. 1 contender bout on March 21 at The O2 in London (Paramount+).
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Sterling (20-5 MMA, 17-5 UFC), who has been linked to matchup with Youssef Zalal at UFC 327 on April 11 in Miami, still doesn’t have a fight locked in. He likes the idea of being a backup for Evloev vs. Murphy in the meantime.
“I’m trying to throw my name to be a backup for that London card,” Sterling told Home of Fight. “Movsar is one of the most unreliable guys that pulls out of how many fights? Or somehow his opponent doesn’t make it to the fight, but usually it’s him. … Obviously cutting weight sucks, but if I get the opportunity to put myself in a No. 1 contender position where I could fight either one of those guys and win, I think the writing is on the wall that I get another title shot long before it’s overdue.”
Sterling lost a hard-fought battle to Evloev at UFC 310, a fight he thought should have gone his way. He broke down the matchup between Evloev and Murphy.
“I feel like Movsar has more ways – well, very clear path to win,” Sterling said. “I mean he can push him up against the cage, he can take him down and hold him. I wouldn’t say he started to wilt (against me). In that third round, I felt like I broke him. When I took him down and I slammed him on his head, and then I slammed him again, I think he was like, ‘All right, I’m just going to hang out here’ because I almost felt like he conceded the loss. That’s why I thought after three-and-a-half minutes of the round, of the control for myself, I really thought I did enough to win.
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“I know some people were saying I didn’t throw any punches. I threw the only punches on the feet that round, and in the entire fight, except the one where he caught my kick and hit me with a right hand. So other than that, I felt those pity-pat shots that he was throwing. I don’t think that should have outscored the round in 90 seconds vs. three-and-a-half minutes. … But Lerone, clean striker, he’s strong. I just wonder if his wrestling is going to be enough. I heard one of his interviews, he’s going to be offensive, pushing the pace, going forward, and trying to be vicious on his defense or offense, whatever he said. So I’m very intrigued to see how that goes.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Aljamain Sterling pitches to be backup for UFC London main event
