Aljamain Sterling doesn’t see Arman Tsarukyan walking straight into a UFC featherweight title shot if the lightweight contender follows through on talk of dropping to 145 pounds.
Tsarukyan has discussed moving down to featherweight and possibly fighting for the title "around June," but Sterling believes a different path awaits him.
"I wouldn't be annoyed at all (if Tsarukyan dropped to featherweight). I don't think he necessarily will cut the line. He'll have to fight the next top guy," Sterling said.
Sterling pointed to a stacked field at 145 pounds, name-checking several contenders and prospects as obstacles for Tsarukyan. "If he wants to come down to the division, come down, because those featherweights, we want all the smoke. You've got me, you've Jean Silva, you've got Youseff (Zalal), you've got Yair (Rodriguez), you've got a lot of talented guys. You've got the Kevin Vallejos kid, who's surging hot right now. You've got that young kid prospect, Lerryan Douglas. There's a lot of good guys in this division, so it ain't gonna be a cake walk, I can tell you that."
Sterling also highlighted the stylistic and physical changes Tsarukyan would face at featherweight. "If he wants to come down, just remember: We're faster," he said. "We are faster. You're cutting down, and you're gonna be smaller. There's gonna be different pros and cons for him coming down. Maybe he's gonna feel stronger, but he's definitely not gonna have the pop for three or five rounds like he does at '55 where he's a little bit more of his natural body weight."
Sterling is set to headline UFC Fight Night 274 against Youseff Zalal on Saturday at the META Apex in Las Vegas.
