Aljamain Sterling eyes former champion for featherweight debut

During his reign as bantamweight king, Aljamain Sterling flirted with the thought of moving up to 145 in the future. After losing his title, there isn’t anything stopping him from making the jump up in weight and the former champion seemingly has an opponent and date in mind.

Despite matching up favorably against his challenger, Sterling saw his run as 135 champ come to an end when he was caught rushing in by a laser-focused Sean O’Malley at UFC 292.

After his pursuit of a rematch fell on deaf ears, ‘Funk Master’ began putting his move to a new division in motion. The grappler is shredded and wouldn’t likely have a hard time against his new potential opponents in the strength department. With his eyes glued firmly on entering the title picture, the 34-year-old may have hinted at his ideal matchup as a featherweight.

In response to a fan who asked when he will be returning to action, Aljamain Sterling proposed an interesting clash with former champion of the division Max Holloway. 

March. Trynna make it Blessed 💯 https://t.co/Yqj914BReb

— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) November 17, 2023

Having only lost to Alexander Volkanovski in the weight class since 2013, Max Holloway has been a force who is never too far away from a title shot. His run of 4 wins from 5 has seen him stunt the rising talents of Calvin Kattar, Yair Rodriguez, and Arnold Allen, alongside a huge knockout victory over The Korean Zombie.

Currently without a fight, calling on ‘Blessed’ to welcome Sterling to the division is a no-brainer. The two are household names in the combat sports world and would put on a show in what should probably be considered a number-one contender’s affair.

While nothing has been made official as of yet, both men have stated their interest in a fight during the first quarter of 2024. Sterling ideally would like to compete in March, while Holloway confirmed that, while he’d be open to a megafight before the end of the year, his preference is to wait until early 2024.