Aljamain Sterling was a UFC champion less than sixteen months ago. The #9 ranked featherweight, of course, lost his bantamweight title to Sean O’Malley at UFC 292 last year, and didn’t stick around for the rematch. Tired of killing himself to make 135lbs, ‘Aljo’ moved up a division and hit the ground running.

‘Funk Master’ is now primed to face undefeated up-and-coming Russian dynamo, Movsar Evloev. The winner of their clash will almost certainly be one or at the most, two steps from a title shot. But Sterling and some fans aren’t very happy. Why? Well because the former champ has been relegated to the prelims card, which has a lot of people scratching their heads.

The real reason why Aljamain Sterling vs. Movsar Evloev was shifted to prelims

Originally, the Sterling-Evloev bout was indeed set to take place on the UFC 310 main card. But, another, perhaps more monetizable name than Sterling was added to the card, which forced the UFC to move this clash to the prelims. Kron Gracie, nephew of UFC 1 winner and BJJ maestro Royce Gracie, of the illustrious Gracie clan is now set to face #13-ranked Bryce Mitchell on the main card.

And the UFC feels that fight is big enough to be on the PPV section of the card. After all, Gracie’s name carries with it immediate recognizability. And the fans are likely to pay more attention and crucially, money, to watch him fight. Sterling, on the other hand, has never been a huge PPV draw, even when he was champion.

And this is the fight business at the end of the day, and the UFC is going to make decisions that make the most business sense. Whether or not their fighters agree doesn’t factor into that decision. But to be fair, not everyone is mad about the decision, and surprisingly, Movsar Evloev is one of them.

Sterling and Evloev react to their UFC 310 preliminary fight

Aljamain Sterling is pretty mad about having to fight on the prelims. The New York native understandably feels disrespected and has vowed to make the UFC regret this decision.

“I didn’t know if I should have been insulted by the placement on the fight card or glass half-full. I guess that’s the best way I try and look at everything in life,” Sterling told fans on his YouTube channel. “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 I am a main card fighter.”

Evloev, on the other hand, is entirely and completely unbothered. After all, the undefeated Russian is too busy looking at the silver lining. “Guys my fight will be broadcasted on ESPN, way more people will watch my fight than on the PPV. I don’t even care if I’m the first fight of the night, I get paid the same. All my life I worked hard to earn things nothing was ever given to me,” Evloev said in a video posted on his official X account. What do you think about Sterling-Evloev being relegated to the UFC 310 prelims card?