UFC featherweight contender Aljamain Sterling explained why he wouldn’t have fought Jean Silva on short notice at Noche UFC.
Silva was originally set to fight Yair Rodriguez in the main event of Noche UFC, which takes place on September 12 at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona.
With Rodriguez out, the UFC tabbed unranked prospect Jose Delgado to fight Silva in the main event.
Sterling, the No. 4-ranked featherweight in the Meta UFC rankings, is currently without an opponent, and some fans thought that he might get the call to fight Silva.
But according to Sterling, the UFC never asked him to fight Silva at Noche UFC — and he would have said no had they asked him to.
Aljamain Sterling Explains Why He Wouldn’t Fight Jean Silva on Short Notice
Speaking on his podcast, Sterling explained why he wouldn’t have fought Silva on short notice even if the UFC had asked him to.
“No, I never got offered to fight. I would rather have taken a full camp. If they were to say we’d move Jean Silva to another date with you, then I’ll take the fight. It would make sense. It’s more appealing than a guy who was ranked 13 and they just magically bumped him up to 12. Again, if (Aaron) Pico beats Arnold Allen, then I’ll fight the winner. I’ll fight Pico. If Arnold Allen wins, I’d rather fight Arnold Allen, someone with an established name and he’s coming off another win. So that’s a fight I can wake up in the morning for and get excited,” Sterling said (via MMAFighting.com).
“If I was offered Jean Silva, I would have looked them straight in the eyes and said, ‘You know what? I will absolutely not take that (expletive) fight.’ If I were to go in the shape that I’m in right now, it’s definitely not. Because I would be on the ground wheezing for air, and I am not afraid to admit it. I just got back from Serbia and Albania, you think I’m freaking in fight shape ready to do five rounds on short notice? Hell no. Give me a training camp.”
Who Will Aljamain Sterling Fight Next?
As Sterling said, he just got back from vacation, so he needs to get back into a training camp and get in fight shape before he can fight some of these top-15-ranked killers like Silva and risk losing his No. 4 spot in the rankings.
Sterling is 37 years old, so he knows that he probably only has one more realistic title run in him, meaning every fight he takes is super critical to his career advancement.
He is coming off back-to-back wins over Brian Ortega and Youssef Zalal, showing just how good he is at 145 lbs, and he is likely just one or, at worst, two wins away from getting a title shot.
We’ll see who the UFC matches Sterling up with next, but as he mentioned, the winner of Allen vs. Pico at UFC 333 seems like a very real possible matchup.
Aljamain Sterling Explains Not Fighting Jean Silva on Short Notice