Does Aljamain Sterling have anything to prove? Ex-champ says 'yes and no'

LAS VEGAS – Aljamain Sterling has worked hard to be in the position he's in today, and hopes that his efforts continue to build a lasting legacy.

Saturday, the former bantamweight champ headlines UFC Fight Night 277 at the Meta APEX against Youssef Zalal in an important featherweight bout. Sterling (25-5 MMA, 17-5 UFC), who has a vastly more impressive resume than Zalal (18-5-1 MMA, 8-3-1 UFC) today, knows the young, hungry fighters are coming to take his spot, but "The Funkmaster" isn't ready to give it up easily.

"It's easy to get complacent, but when you're training with these young guys in the gym every day, and they're getting after you, it has to keep you on top of your game – it pushes you to want to do that," Sterling said at Wednesday's media day. "Training with a guy like Youssef before in the past, it's definitely given me that inside look of how he thinks and what motivates him to want to win this fight. I got my work cut out for me, but I think big brother is gonna prevail and show him it's just not his time yet. It's still 'Funkmaster' time."

After dropping the bantamweight title, Sterling, 36, moved up to featherweight, where he has gone 2-1 so far. His last outing in August was a win over Brian Ortega, which provided some positive momentum ahead of this main event against Zalal, 29, who has been on fire in his second UFC stint, winning five straight.

For Sterling, the goal is to get past Zalal to earn a title shot at current 145-pound champ Alexander Volkanovski. His bantamweight title reign included three defenses, which was impressive, but he wants to capture a title in a second division to join an exclusive club. When you look at Sterling's resume, it's filled with multiple champions and Hall of Fame opponents.

Despite all he's done, does Sterling believe he still has something to prove to everyone?

"Yes and no," Sterling said. "It's a little weird because some people only been introduced to Aljamain Sterling with the first Petr Yan fight, and that's unfortunate because they got to miss all the great performances that I've had before that – all the finishes, all the things I've done in the bantamweight division. If you really want to know who I am, go back and watch. It's not hard to do, and you can see how I got here. I didn't get here by getting a handout. I didn't get the Dana White privilege. I didn't get none of that.