Aljamain Sterling is set to headline UFC Fight Night 277 on Saturday, taking on Youssef Zalal in a featherweight main event at the Meta APEX as he pushes toward a shot at 145-pound champion Alexander Volkanovski.
Sterling enters the bout with a 25-5 MMA record and 17-5 mark in the UFC, having gone 2-1 since moving up to featherweight after losing the bantamweight title. Zalal, in his second stint with the promotion, brings an 18-5-1 MMA record and 8-3-1 in the UFC, and is riding a five-fight winning streak.
"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," Sterling said.
Sterling, a former bantamweight champion with three successful title defenses, is coming off an August win over Brian Ortega. Reflecting on his path, he added, "It's a little weird because some people only been introduced to Aljamain Sterling with the firstPetr Yanfight, 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."
