Aljamain Sterling’s fight against undefeated, Movsar Evloev had to be called off since the former bantamweight champion injured himself just weeks away from their clash. This would have been ‘FunkMaster’s second featherweight clash after he dominated Calvin Kattar at UFC 300. Well, the UFC CEO Dana White might not be amused by the fact that Sterling pulled out of the fight considering that they already have a palpable tension between them.

The former bantamweight champion took to his YouTube handle to confess, “In sparring I had an injury. I did stem cells. I took time off. I tried to rehab it as much as I could and as best I could with the [UFC Performance Institute]. Unfortunately, it’s out of my hands now.” Injuries from sparring just weeks before the clash are a no-brainer for the UFC CEO but how did they react to the pullout? Let’s find out.

Aljamain Sterling revealed UFC’s initial reaction to his injury

While in conversation with ‘The Schmo,’ Aljamain Sterling was asked about his injury. The former bantamweight champion emphasised that the injury is not that critical but it needs care and rest for the betterment of his body. The host went on to have a conversation about Sterling’s next matchup and in the midst of this, he inquired about the UFC’s initial reaction to pullout because Sterling is already having animosity with the promotion’s top brass.

As soon as Aljamain Sterling heard this question, he went on to explain that the promotion was not happy with the injury but they gave him enough time to make his call. “The UFC said the UFC medical team advised me to give it a week. I gave it a week, and still, still—because it happened on Thursday—I gave it that whole week, got stem cells on a Friday. Um, didn’t feel like much was changing. I was like, ‘Dude, I don’t know,’ because I got the MRI the same day the injury happened, because I freaked out,” said Sterling.

He further added, “A week goes by, still nothing. So, I spoke to the UFC, and I told them. Yeah, they knew what was going on. Saw them at the contender fight, and they said, ‘Uh, we don’t want you to fight injured again, and, you know, let us know what you want to do.’ So, I said, ‘Let me get to the weekend through Merab’s fight and then kind of make a decision then.’ And that’s why that Monday came around. I saw Hunter in the office, and, uh, it just wasn’t good. So, I was like, ‘I think I’m making the right call.'”

Aljamain Sterling faced a crushing defeat at the hands of Sean O’Malley when he fought injured last time. However, the former bantamweight champion is not keen on making the same mistakes again. Well, now that his fight with Evloev has been canceled, will it be rescheduled by the promotion in the coming future? Let’s find out.

͏’FunkMaster’ is looking to face Diego Lopes and Brian Ortega

‘FunkMaster’ was scheduled to take on Movsar Evloev at UFC 307 on October 5th but a sudden injury forced him to leave the match hanging. However, was he interested in taking on Evloev at all? During a recent escapade with the Schmo, Sterling emphasized that he would like to fight him sometime during December but right now he is looking at more options. The fighter emphasized that he would love to fight Diego Lopes and Brian Ortega shortly.

“Maybe [I’ll fight] Diego Lopes… But, if you’re giving me the option, I always wanted Brian Ortega so I can get the closest spot to the top [but] now that the next closest guy is Diego Lopes. That’s all it is, it has nothing to do with what this guy did, it’s the name value, what it gets me [and] risk versus reward,” said Aljamain Sterling.

Diego Lopes is currently ranke͏d͏ t͏h͏ird͏ in ͏th͏e fea͏th͏erw͏eig͏h͏t ͏ra͏nk͏ings after his spectacu͏lar victo͏ry against Bria͏n Or͏teg͏a at th͏e UFC 306 ͏ev͏ent. Well, Lopes is next in the ͏line for the title so the UFC giving S͏ter͏ling a͏ chance to fight him ͏is looking a bit far-fetched.͏ ͏Reg͏ardless, what is your take on Ste͏rli͏ng’͏s opin͏ion? S͏tate y͏our tho͏ughts in t͏he comments be͏low.