UFC champion Aljamain Sterling has admitted he will likely move up to featherweight after two more fights at bantamweight.
Sterling defends his bantamweight world title against former two-weight champion Henry Cejudo in the main event of UFC 288 in Newark, New Jersey this Saturday night. 'Funkmaster' is keen to challenge No.1 contender Sean O'Malley if he gets past Cejudo - and those two fights would signal the end of his bantamweight stint.
“Very likely that’s the path, but I’m just going to see how this fight goes, how the weight cut goes,” Sterling told The Fighter vs. The Writer. "There could be a chance — and I don’t want to put this in the air because people say stupid things like, ‘Oh, that’s the wrong mindset to have.'
Who wins at UFC 288 this Saturday - Aljamain Sterling or Henry Cejudo? Let us know your prediction in the comments section below
"I’m like, ‘Really, because you’ve done it so many times? Please explain to me what your mindset has been in your fights beforehand or afterwards.’ At the end of the day, depending on how this goes and the difficulty, I think I’ve done a better job so far of managing my weight. This could maybe even be the last one. I think it just depends on how everything runs.”
'Funkmaster' has been competing at 135lb for his entire fighting career but is now targeting a featherweight move, admitting his 35lb weight cut is getting more difficult with age. A move to featherweight would also open up a potential bantamweight title shot for his teammate Merab Dvalishvili, as the friends have insisted they would never fight each other despite both being at the top of the 135lb division.
“Making 135 is not easy,” Sterling added. “I do it. It pays the bills. It’s my job. We’ll see what happens. It’s not easy. I’m getting older, 33 years old, cut down from about 168 pounds]. When I’m not training, that’s what I walk around at, that’s my natural state and I’m not fat or out-of-shape looking for a fighter profile.
"To cut down, I lose a lot to get down to this weight, and I feel like my body, it’s become more difficult to make the weight class. So we’ll see. I’m just taking it day by day, fight by fight, and then we can make a decision — and I would love to see my guy Merab get a crack at the title.”
