Alan Jouban sees major, but not immediate, title implications in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 274 main event between Aljamain Sterling and Youssef Zalal at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas.
Jouban, who will work the card, views both featherweights as part of the division’s upper tier but doesn’t believe the winner will leapfrog Movsar Evloev or Jean Silva for a shot at champion Alexander Volkanovski.
"It's hard not to root for Youssef Zalal as of late," Jouban said, praising the surging contender who is 5-0 since rejoining the UFC roster in March 2024 and is coming off a 98-second submission of Josh Emmett.
"I take him as a very smart IQ fighter. He's a very loving guy when you speak to him. When he gets in there, it's like a computer. He's using his range, he's using his distance, and picking his shots very wisely. He's utilizing his grappling, which has looked phenomenal."
On the other side, Sterling has won two of three since moving up from bantamweight, with victories over Calvin Kattar and Brian Ortega and a close decision loss to Evloev at UFC 310. "Sterling is one of the very best in the world. He went toe-to-toe with Movsar Evloev in some very tough exchanges. Does Zalal try to dip his toe in the grappling, or does he use that high IQ that I keep boasting about?"
As for stakes, Jouban said, "It puts them in the picture," but added, "I don't know if I could be comfortable saying a win here gets a title shot. Maybe one more win away."
