Aljamain Sterling believes Youssef Zalal was overconfident ahead of their fight

Aljamain Sterling thinks Youssef Zalal was almost looking past him. 

Zalal faced Sterling in the first UFC main event of his career last weekend at the Apex in Las Vegas. Despite Sterling being a former bantamweight champion, Zalal was a favorite going into the fight. However, Sterling thoroughly dominated Zalal on the ground, even landing the more damaging strikes on the feet, to earn a unanimous decision win. 

For Sterling, Zalal’s confidence almost bordered on cockiness during fight week. Sterling believes Zalal felt that it was his time and started counting his chickens before they hatched. Despite having trained together in the past, Sterling thinks Zalal forgot what went down in the gym.

The Wrong Aura

“He had an aura about him – I didn’t know if it was cockiness or confidence,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel. “It’s always a very fine line with that… It almost felt like he was looking past me… He almost felt like it was his time, and he was counting his chickens before they hatched. I think that was his mistake. I think he looked past what he actually dealt with in the training room and my past few performances. I think he just came in a little overconfident.” 

While Zalal’s (18-6) forgettable first stint in the UFC ended in 2022, he made his way back to the promotion with three straight first-round finishes on the regional circuit. “The Moroccan Devil” continued his success in his second UFC stint, earning five straight victories before falling against Sterling. Meanwhile, Sterling (26-5) has defeated Calvin Kattar, Brian Ortega, and Zalal, while only losing to top contender Movsar Evloev since moving up to featherweight in 2024.