Aljamain Sterling turns up the heat on critics following convincing win over Youssef Zalal

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Aljamain Sterling isn’t shy about letting people know he was right after his latest win inside the cage.

The former bantamweight champion made his return in the main event of UFC Vegas 116 at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas.

Sterling kept his bid for two-division gold intact by ending one of the more impressive streaks going in the promotion. Youssef Zalal had won eight straight and was starting to get talked about as a future featherweight title challenger before running into Sterling.

Sterling did not take long to remind fans who doubted him ahead of this fight, given that many expected Zalal to come away with another win against ‘Funk Master’.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Sterling has his say after a win over Zalal

Sterling’s move to featherweight came after his knockout loss to Sean O’Malley in 2023, which ended a historic run as bantamweight champion. Since then, he’s put together a 3-1 record in the new division, with his only defeat coming against unbeaten contender Movsar Evloev.

Wins over Brian Ortega and now Zalal have pushed Sterling into the title conversation at 145 pounds, even as some continued to question whether he still belonged at that level.

‘Funk Master’ clearly noticed the noise around him and addressed it straight after his one-sided win over ‘The Moroccan Devil’ by writing on X: “Everyone that doubted me…. SMD! JUUU HEARDDD?!?! New Yawk S—!!”

After an April win over Brian Ortega, Sterling had already called for a fight with Alexander Volkanovski, who was expected to defend next against Movsar Evloev. The Australian had openly said he was looking forward to handing Evloev his first career defeat.

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