After huge UFC 250 win, Aljamain Sterling will stay ready to be title-fight replacement

Aljamain Sterling will stay ready just in case.

The UFC bantamweight contender is open to the opportunity of being a replacement opponent for the expected bantamweight title fight between Jose Aldo and Petr Yan, which is set for the vacant belt. Sterling (19-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) picked up a huge first-round submission win over Cory Sandhagen on the pay-per-view main card of UFC 250 on Saturday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

Sterling left UFC 250 unscathed and believes his latest win makes him the No. 1 contender in the division.

“This is a very important moment for me,” Sterling told reporters at the post-fight news conference. “I worked so hard to get here and to get back to this position, I think this solidifies that I am the next guy who deserves the next title shot.”

That won’t happen as UFC president Dana White said the plan is still for Aldo and Yan to square off. In case either man can’t make it, Sterling will be ready to take the opportunity.

“We got Merab (Dvalishvili) fighting next weekend against Ray Borg, we got Matt Frevola against Camacho the following week, so I’m going to be here working out with these guys, helping them stay in shape and getting them ready and giving them some looks,” Sterling said. “I’m not banged up, which is great, so I could be a good asset for them, which is great for these next few fight weeks and stay ready.

“I’m trying to realize a dream. I can feel it. I can touch it, and that’s it. I’m on cloud nine, man. With all the craziness going on in the world, you know, this is my moment and definitely still want to pay some type of tribute to what’s going in America today.”

Sterling plans on protesting in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in response to the police killing of George Floyd once he’s back home in New York.

As far as the bout that’s slated for the vacant belt, Sterling is picking the former champion. He has no preference on who he fights, but he thinks Aldo will get the job done against Yan.

“It’s a tough fight,” Sterling said. “Jose Aldo is a great dude, he’s tough competition and former champion. He had a really close fight with Marlon Moraes. I thought the fight could’ve gone to him. I thought it did.

“And Petr Yan is a tough dude himself, but I just don’t think he’s … I don’t know, he’s good, I’m just not sold on him yet. I think there’s some question marks to be answered, and I don’t know. Maybe this one is going to answer those questions.

“I’d love to be the guy in the position to take out the boogie man that everyone thinks. I’m like, ‘Dude, he’s a f*cking person. He bleeds just like everybody else. I don’t give a sh*t.’ It’s different when you have a good wrestler who’s confident in his abilities. I can strike, I can wrestle, I can do jiu-jitsu. There’s black belts, and then there’s black belts. And I’m a Serra BJJ black belt.”