Aljamain Sterling confused by prelims spot at UFC 310: ‘I am a main card fighter’

Aljamain Sterling expected to be on the main card of UFC 310.

[autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] expected to be on the main card of UFC 310.

Sterling (24-4 MMA, 16-4 UFC) meets Movsar Evloev (18-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) on Saturday’s prelims (pay-per-view, ESPN 2, ESPN+) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The former UFC bantamweight champion was surprised to see a high-stakes fight against unbeaten Evloev get such low billing, but he plans on proving that they should have been on the main card all along.

“I didn’t know if I should have been insulted by the placement on the fight card or glass half-full,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel. “I guess that’s the best way I try to look at everything in life. I get to fight earlier and get to be done earlier. I get to pop open a fresh bottle of Funk Harbor, hang out with the friends and celebrate a big win. I was a little confused by it, of course.

“I guess they have their rhyme or reason for what they do, the UFC brass, and it is what it is. At the end of the day, it’s not my organization. I don’t call the shots. I just go out there and compete, and it’s up to me to go out there and prove these guys wrong that hey, I am a main card fighter. I think people are going to be in for a very big surprise, and the UFC is going to realize we messed up big time by not putting this on the main card.”

Instead, a fun featherweight matchup between Bryce Mitchell (16-2 MMA, 7-2 UFC) and the returning Kron Gracie (5-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) lands on the pay-per-view portion of the card.

[lawrence-related id=2789286,2782562,2770483]

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 310.