Aljamain Sterling moved up to featherweight after losing his UFC bantamweight championship to Sean O'Malley. He dominated Calvin Kattar in his divisional debut and was scheduled to fight Movsar Evloev at UFC 307 next.
However, Sterling has pulled out of the UFC 307 bout because of an injury that he sustained during sparring. Despite taking the right precautions and undergoing stem cell therapy, he hasn't been able to recover properly and announced his injury via YouTube and X recently.
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I think it's a tough test. And I truly do believe I have the abilities to beat you. So, let's do this in December. And I'll see you on the other side of the Octagon. But if you decide not to wait, I can respect that also. Because I know you're trying to fight for a belt as am I and the only way to do that is to go through each other.
Aljo still wants to fight Evloev but expects the latter to wait until December. The undefeated Russian featherweight is naturally unhappy with this development, and here's what he plans to do now...
Movsar Evloev Responds To Aljamain Sterling Pulling Out Of 307 Because Of Injury
Evloev has been training for his next featherweight fight in the UFC for four months. Even with all the bad blood between him and Sterling so far, he isn't interested in pushing back the matchup.
Evloev shared on X (formerly Twitter) that he is willing to stay on UFC 307 and will fight anybody. From Diego Lopes to Dan Ige to Josh Emmett, there are a bunch of matchups that fans have already suggested.
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With consecutive wins over Ige, Lopes, and Arnold Allen, undefeated Evloev at 18-0 is certainly one of the most interesting prospects in the UFC featherweight division. A win over a former champ like Sterling could have secured him a title shot or, at the very least, put him in a title eliminator.
Similarly, Sterling looked forward to fighting Diego Lopes after beating Evloev. Such massive wins would've put him in a comfortable spot to challenge Ilia Topuria or Max Holloway for the title.
It is worth noting that Nate Landwehr is also out of his UFC 307 bout against Austin Hubbard. He'll be replaced by Alexander Hernandez.
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