Tag: Aljamain Sterling

Spinning Back Clique REPLAY: UFC 300 review, Holloway wins BMF title, Makhachev & McGregor return, more

On “Spinning Back Clique,” our panel discusses the fallout of UFC 300 including, Holloway’s BMF win, McGregor’s return, and more.

Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly live show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts.

This week’s panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Mike Bohn and Danny Segura will join host “Gorgeous” George Garcia live at 11:30 a.m. ET (8:30 a.m. PT) to discuss and debate everything around UFC 300:

  • The UFC reached its 300th pay-per-view event, a big milestone for the Las Vegas-based promotion. Where does this massive event rank in UFC history? On paper, it was a great card, and it delivered as promised.
  • [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] arguably made the biggest statement on Saturday night. The former UFC featherweight champion knocked out [autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] in brutal fashion with one second remaining in the fight for the BMF title. So what’s next for Holloway? Should he stay at 155 pounds or go back to 145? Holloway has many options after this career-defining win.
  • On top of Holloway’s win, there were several other important lightweight bouts, as well as other lightweight bookings announced: [autotag]Arman Tsarukyan[/autotag] defeated former champion [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag], [autotag]Renato Moicano[/autotag] stopped Jalin Turner and [autotag]Bobby Green[/autotag] picked apart Jim Miller. Additionally, the [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag] title defense vs. [autotag]Dutin Poirier[/autotag] was made official, along with the return of [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag], who faces lightweight standout [autotag]Michael Chandler[/autotag] in a welterweight bout. Big news and results that heavily impact the UFC lightweight division.
  • In the main event of UFC 300, [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] successfully defended his light heavyweight belt for the very first time, knocking out [autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag]. It was a huge win for the Brazilian, who requested a heavyweight fight in a quick turnaround at UFC 301 in Brazil next month.
  • In the other undisputed title fight, [autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag] defended her UFC strawweight belt against fellow Chinese fighter [autotag]Yan Xiaonan[/autotag]. It was a solid showing by Weili, who logged the second title defense of her second championship reign.
  • [autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag] made a huge splash on Saturday night. In a dominant showing, she submitted former champion [autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag], a victory that even caught the attention of former two-division UFC champion [autotag]Amanda Nunes[/autotag]. What’s next for Harrison? Is she a future UFC champion? We unpack it all.
  • Lastly, several other big storylines went down at UFC 300. The panel quickly reviews [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag]’s featherweight debut, [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag]’s submission win, [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag]’ most recent first-round finish and more.

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Video: Can Aljamain Sterling thrive in the UFC featherweight division?

A former UFC bantamweight champion, will Aljamain Sterling find similar success a weight class higher? We discuss on “Spinning Back Clique.”

On the latest episode of “Spinning Back Clique,” the panel discusses [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag]’s move to the featherweight division.

This Saturday, the former UFC bantamweight champion goes up to 145 pounds to take on veteran [autotag]Calvin Kattar[/autotag] on the preliminary card of UFC 300 in Las Vegas. It’s a big addition to the featherweight division, given Sterling’s status in the sport. But can he find success just like he did a weight class below?

MMA Junkie’s Brian “Goze” Garcia, Danny Segura, Nolan King, and host “Gorgeous” George Garcia discuss Sterling’s decision to move up and his potential in this new division.

Watch their discussion in the video above, and also don’t miss this week’s complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube.

https://youtube.com/live/fSjkR02NKpM

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.

Spinning Back Clique REPLAY: Everything UFC 300 – Pereira vs. Hill, BMF title fight, Harrison’s debut, more

On this week’s episode of “Spinning Back Clique,” the panel discusses everything UFC 300.

Check out this week’s special edition of “Spinning Back Clique,” where we’ll be breaking down everything UFC 300.

This week’s panel will be composed of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Danny Segura, and host “Gorgeous” George Garcia – along with appearances from Matt Wells, Mike Bohn, Farah Hannoun, Dan Tom, and Nolan King.

For this Monday’s special episode, the panel discussed:

  • The pair of undisputed UFC championship fights headlining UFC 300. In the main event, [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] makes his first light heavyweight title defense against former champion  [autotag]Jamahal Hill[/autotag], who returns from injury. In the co-main event, [autotag]Zhang Weili[/autotag] takes on fellow Chinese fighter [autotag]Yan Xiaonan[/autotag] in a women’s strawweight bout.
  • The first-ever Baddest Motherf*cker title defense, as BMF champion [autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] welcomes back [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] to the lightweight division. Other key lightweight bouts go down, including [autotag]Charles Oliveira[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Arman Tsarukyan[/autotag], [autotag]Jalin Turner[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Renato Moicano[/autotag], [autotag]Jim Miller[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Bobby Green[/autotag].
  • Highly-touted undefeated middleweight prospect [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag]’s return to action. He takes on Cody Brundage in the opening bout of the pay-per-view main card. This will be Nickal’s third fight under the UFC banner.
  • Two-time PFL champion and two-time Judo Olympic gold medalist [autotag]Kayla Harrison[/autotag] makes her highly awaited UFC debut. She takes on former champion [autotag]Holly Holm[/autotag] at bantamweight – a division Harrison will be debuting in. Harrison has previously fought at 155 and 145 pounds.
  • Former UFC bantamweight champion [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] has moved up to featherweight. Veteran contender [autotag]Calvin Kattar[/autotag] welcomes him to the division.
  • To cap off the show, the panel will do a quick promo breakdown to hype up the four remaining bouts of the UFC 300 card. This includes [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Aleksandar Rakic[/autotag], [autotag]Sodiq Yusuff[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Diego Lopes[/autotag], [autotag]Jessica Andrade[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Marina Rodriguez[/autotag], and [autotag]Deiveson Figueiredo[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Cody Garbrandt[/autotag].

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.

Aljamain Sterling: ‘It’s hard for me to put a lot of stock’ in Sean O’Malley’s win over Marlon Vera at UFC 299

Aljamain Sterling rates Sean O’Malley’s skills highly, but can’t help but question his opposition.

[autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] rates [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag]’s skills highly, but can’t help but question his opposition.

Bantamweight champion O’Malley (18-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) notched his first title defense Saturday in the UFC 299 headliner with a shutout of Marlon Vera (21-9-1 MMA, 15-8 UFC) – avenging the lone loss of his career.

O’Malley has openly said he’d be willing to fight Merab Dvalishvili next, but called out UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria in his post-fight octagon interview, which bothered Sterling.

“The only thing that rubbed me the wrong way a little bit again – and you can call me salty about it, call me a hater, but I stick up for my boys and I hope you guys do, too – but he should have called out Merab and did the right thing,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel. “I think it’s kind of ridiculous of him to say, ‘Dana, get the jet to Spain.’

“Like, what are you talking about, dude? You defended the belt against a guy who wasn’t even ranked in the top five, they moved him up to the top five to make it look like he was better, like he fought a top-five opponent. How did ‘Chito’ move up in the rankings? Who did he beat to move up in the ranking?”

Sterling, who lost his bantamweight title to O’Malley this past August, thinks Vera was never the one who should have gotten a title shot. Naturally, he’s vouching for his good friend and teammate Dvalishvili.

“I feel like there’s been another title fight, and I don’t want to say names,” Sterling said. “There’s been another title fight where a guy wanted to avenge his loss and the guy was ranked in the top 15, and he won. But it’s just one of those things where, ‘Yeah, you won, but it’d be nice to fight the guy who’s next in line.’

“So that’s the only thing that I feel a little bit awkward about, because I’m like, yeah you won, but you won against a guy that we were all expecting you to beat. So as a champion, it’s hard for me to put a lot of stock in that because I just can’t respect it as much.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 299.

Marlon Vera responds to ‘f*cking loser’ Aljamain Sterling’s speculation of troubled UFC 299 camp

Marlon Vera went off on Aljamain Sterling for his speculation about his training camp ahead of UFC 299.

MIAMI – [autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag] has fired back at [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] after the former UFC champion claimed that “Chito’s” training camp had some troubles ahead of his return.

Vera (21-8-1 MMA, 15-7 UFC) is scheduled to challenge UFC bantamweight champ Sean O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) this Saturday in the main event of UFC 299 (pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+). Sterling, ahead of the event, said that he was picking O’Malley to win due to things he heard about Vera’s training camp in the lead up to the fight.

“I’m hearing through the grapevine that he didn’t really have a great camp, from a lot of guys that trained with ‘Chito,'” Sterling said. “I don’t know how true that is. So, with that said, I’m leaning toward O’Malley to get it done.”

On Wednesday at media day, Vera was asked about Sterling’s claims, which he didn’t appreciate.

“Aljo, dude, he’s so f*cking hungry for attention,” Vera said. “He never got attention in the UFC. He became a world champion, he defended, and he got booed in f*cking New Jersey against f*cking Cejudo. Who gets booed against Cejudo? Holy sh*t, people f*cking hate you.

“Now you’re becoming a YouTuber because your fighting career is probably not going well. I don’t want to knock down anybody because I want to focus on my fight and keep my karma in the right direction. I mean, he heard? We have a private gym. There’s no janitor in my gym, you know what I’m saying? Like we don’t have people. It’s the same three people year round. Saturday night, you will see how bad my camp was. I’m a guy that in what, 22, 23 fights in the UFC, has never some with an excuse like most of these fighters.

“All these fighters have something to complain, ‘Oh, this and that happened. Oh, I’m going through this. Oh, I didn’t have this.’ I’ve never said anything, and that should tell you something about me. Aljo, f*ck off. You have a fight ahead. Focus on your life. You’re a f*cking loser.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 299.

Aljamain Sterling: If Marlon Vera wants to beat Sean O’Malley at UFC 299, Ngannou-Lewis level of ‘boring’ could work

Aljamain Sterling envisions a potential snoozefest between Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera at UFC 299.

[autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] envisions a potential snoozefest between [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] and [autotag]Marlon Vera[/autotag] at UFC 299.

Bantamweight champion O’Malley (17-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) makes his first title defense in a rematch against Vera (21-8-1 MMA, 15-7 UFC) in Saturday’s headliner (pay-per-view, ESPNews, ESPN+) at Kaseya Center in Miami.

Sterling predicts O’Malley avenges his loss to Vera, but narrowly gets by.

“O’Malley is the more skilled fighter, 100 percent,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel. “But I just think there’s the intangibles, like someone’s durability, their heart and the cardio aspect that people are overlooking. I feel like ‘Chito’ has that.

“The only thing I’m concerned about is that I’m hearing through the grapevines (Vera) didn’t really have a great camp or a lot of guys to train with. I don’t know how true that is. So with that said, I’m leaning toward O’Malley to get it done. I’m going to say, I don’t think he finishes him. By decision? Maybe split decision. I’m saying split decision.”

Sterling (23-4 MMA, 15-4 UFC) lost his bantamweight title to O’Malley this past August at UFC 292 when he was sniped by a perfect counter right hand.

He explains that with O’Malley’s sharp counter striking, it’s in Vera’s best interest to make it a slow fight, hence why he thinks the fight could be boring.

”I’m saying this is Francis Ngannou-Derrick Lewis or Rose Namajunas- Carla Esparza 2,” Sterling said. “I think if you’re ‘Chito,’ you fight this motherf*cker boring, bro. You can’t fight him aggressive and try to be exciting because he’s too good at what he does.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 299.

Aljamain Sterling honest in assessment of new UFC champ Ilia Topuria: ‘It’s a tough matchup for anybody’

Aljamain Sterling sees Ilia Topuria posing problems for everyone in the division – including himself.

[autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] sees [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] posing problems for everyone in the division – including himself.

Topuria (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) knocked out Alexander Volkanovski to claim the featherweight title this past Saturday at UFC 298.

Topuria has primarily used his boxing in his impressive UFC run, but his first seven professional wins all came by submission, making him a well-rounded threat.

“I think (Topuria) could be champ for quite some time if he really wants to,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel. “That’s a hard style of fight. I mean, what do you do?”

Sterling (23-4 MMA, 15-4 UFC), a former bantamweight champion, seeks new life at featherweight when he meets Calvin Kattar at UFC 300 on April 13. With Topuria dismissing the current perennial contenders, Sterling could present fresh blood for the champion with a win.

But he knows it wouldn’t be easy.

“It’s a tough matchup for anybody – even for me, if I had the opportunity to fight him,” Sterling said. “Say I finish Calvin Kattar, make a big statement. They want something new, something fresh. Bhe Brian Ortega-Yair (Rodriguez featherweight) fight (at UFC Mexico) isn’t that great, maybe they throw me in there.

“I’m looking at it like, I’ve got my work cut out for me. That’s not an easy fight. That’s just being as honest as it is. I know I can punch, but it’s not how hard you can hit, sometimes you’ve got to be able to take that back.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 298.

Ray Longo proud that Merab Dvalishvili and Aljamain Sterling put friendship first, didn’t ‘sell out for $100,000’

Dana White thought it was a mistake when Aljamain Sterling and Merab Dvalishvili wouldn’t fight each other, but Ray Longo is glad they didn’t.

Ray Longo praised his star students, [autotag]Merab Dvalishvili[/autotag] and [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag], for never fighting each other.

When Sterling was bantamweight champion, streaking contender Dvalishvili (17-4 MMA, 10-2 UFC) refused to fight his teammate for the title, which UFC CEO Dana White heavily criticized.

But after Sterling lost his bantamweight title and moved up to featherweight, the door opened for Dvalishvili, who was declared No. 1 contender for his impressive win over Henry Cejudo this past Saturday at UFC 298.

“To me, this is going to go down as one of the greatest human interest stories in MMA,” Longo said in a recent episode of the “Anik & Florian” podcast. “How these two guys formed a brotherhood and they didn’t succumb to all the bullsh*t. They didn’t sell out for $100,000.

“They put their friendship first and now everything’s working out, and they had to take a lot of sh*t for it. Aljo got tortured over it. Merab got tortured. Whether they want to say it or not, actions speak louder than words. We don’t have to hear it. We could see it. Aljo held to his word. He didn’t have to move up. He wanted to move up. He wants to see Merab get that shot.”

Sterling makes his 145-pound debut against perennial contender Calvin Kattar at UFC 300 on April 13. Meanwhile, Dvalishvili awaits the winner of the bantamweight title fight between champion Sean O’Malley and Marlon Vera, which headlines UFC 299 on March 9 in Miami.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 298.

Video: Watch the UFC 300 Q&A with Justin Gaethje, Max Holloway, more

Watch the UFC 300 Q&A from Anaheim, Calif., featuring stars scheduled to compete at the milestone event.

Before the stars of UFC 298 step on the scale for ceremonial weigh-ins, the promotion will treat fans in attendance to a Q&A session with a few fighters from its upcoming April milestone event.

The UFC 300 Q&A takes place Friday at 7 p.m. ET at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. Fighters expected to participate in the Q&A session are [autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] and [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] who compete for the BMF title at the event. Former bantamweight champion [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] and UFC record holder [autotag]Jim Miller[/autotag] will also particpate. The event will be moderated by UFC play-by-play commentator Jon Anik.

The UFC 300 pay-per-view event takes place April 13 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Watch the UFC 300 Q&A session in the video above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.

Who will close out 2024 as UFC champions? Here are the odds by division

Find out who oddsmakers have listed as having the best chances to be UFC champions when the calendar reaches December 31, 2024.

The UFC is coming off a near record year in terms of title turnover, and it’ll be interesting to see if that continues in 2024.

In 2023, UFC championships changed hands 11 times, including two interim champions, which tied for the second most title changes in the promotion’s history. With UFC Fight Night 234 set to kick off the new year of events, it’s the perfect time to see how oddsmakers view each division and who could be UFC champions when the calendar reaches December 31, 2024.

The odds via DraftKings are broken down below by division and include the top 10, but before you check them out, here are some notes that stand out:

  • Former middleweight champion [autotag]Israel Adesanya[/autotag], who’s failed once to win the light heavyweight title, has the sixth-highest odds at +800 to end the year as 205-pound champion.
  • [autotag]Bo Nickal[/autotag], who’s currently unranked at middleweight, has the fifth-highest odds at +550 to end the year as 185-pound champion.
  • [autotag]Islam Makhachev[/autotag], the current lightweight champion, has the fourth-highest odds at +500 to end the year as welterweight champion.
  • [autotag]Conor McGregor[/autotag], who hasn’t won a lightweight fight since November 2016, has the eighth-highest odds at +3500 to end he year as 15-pound champion.
  • Former bantamweight champion [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag], who is set to make his featherweight debut at UFC 300, has the third-highest odds at +550 to end the year as 145-pound champion.
  • Former women’s flyweight champion [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag], who fell short before to claim the bantamweight title, has the sixth-highest odds at +750 to end the year as 135-pound champion.