The UFC visits Qatar on November 21. The event takes place at the ABHA Arena in Al Rayyan. Former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling returns to action. He takes on Argentinian top prospect Kevin Vallejos in the featherweight division.
The UFC announced the fight moments ago. Sterling is currently ranked number four in both the UFC Media and Meta rankings, while his opponent, Vallejos, sits at number nine in the UFC Media rankings and number ten in the Meta rankings.
🎟️🔗 Tickets on sale October 9, register your interest at link in bio
[ LIVE NOV 21 on @ParamountPlus ]
Former Champion
Aljamain Sterling returns for the second time in the Octagon this year. The former bantamweight champion has to defend his spot in the top 5 of the featherweight rankings again. After losing his title at bantamweight in his third title defense against Sean O’Malley, Sterling tried to work his way back up in the rankings. After defeating Calvin Kattar, Sterling suffered a narrow defeat against the undefeated Movsar Evloev.
Sterling decided to go up a weight class and debuted last year against Brian Ortega. Sterling won after five rounds via unanimous decision. ‘The Funk Master’ went on to also win his second fight in the division when he took on Youssef Zalal earlier this year in a main event. Now, with two wins in his pocket, he takes on the talented Kevin Vallejos. A win should solidify Sterling’s position in the top 5 in the division and should earn him a shot at one of the top contenders in the division next year.
Young Talent
The 24-year-old Kevin Vallejos is one of the brightest prospects in the UFC featherweight division. The fighter from Argentina tried to earn a UFC contract in 2023 during the Contender Series. Vallejos lost, in one of the best fights on the show, against current top contender Jean Silva. Vallejos went back to Argentina to defend his title twice for the Samurai Fight House and came back in 2024 for a second time on the Contender Series.
This time he won by knockout in the first round against Cam Teague and got signed to the UFC. In his debut year last year in the UFC, he won three straight fights. Vallejos impressed with wins over Danny Silva and finishes over both SeungWoo Choi and Giga Chikadze. It earned him his first UFC main event earlier this year against Josh Emmett. Also, Emmett got finished via knockout in the first round. Now he takes on Aljamain Sterling, the biggest fight of his career so far.
UFC Qatar
- Jiri Prochazka vs. Navajo Stirling
- Aljamain Sterling vs. Kevin Vallejos
- Dan Hooker vs. Brian Ortega
- Asu Almabayev vs. Kyoji Horiguchi
- Jared Cannonier vs. Ikram Aliskerov
- Aleksandre Topuria vs. Santiago Luna
- Shamil Gaziev vs. Tallison Teixeira
- Amir Albazi vs. Alessandro Costa
Former Champion Takes On Top Prospect at UFC Qatar