Aljamain Sterling 'Confused' By Preliminary Card Placement at UFC 310

Aljamain Sterling (24-4) believes the UFC will regret not putting his matchup against Movsar Evloev (18-0) on the main card.

Sterling and Evloev will clash on the prelims at UFC 310 on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The former UFC bantamweight champ isn’t even part of the evening’s featured preliminary bout, as that position instead goes to Dominick Reyes and Anthony Smith.

While Sterling is confused by his placement on the card, he chooses to see the positive side of fighting on the prelims. “Funkmaster” is glad that he will be done early and hopefully get to celebrate a win with his friends while enjoying the rest of the card.

While both Sterling and Evloev are among the best featherweights in the world, neither has the most fan-friendly style. Both Sterling and Evloev have often been criticized for lackluster performances and the lack of finishes on their records. However, Sterling believes both fans and the promotion are in for a big surprise at UFC 310.

“I don’t know if I should have been insulted by the placement on the fight card or glass half full. I guess that’s the best way I can try to look at everything in life,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel. “I get to fight earlier, get to be done earlier, get to pop open a fresh bottle of Funk Harbor, hang out with the friends and celebrate a big win. I was a little confused by it, of course. I guess they have their rhyme or reason for what they do, the UFC brass. And it is what it is. At the end of the day, it’s not my organization. I don’t call the shots. I just go out there and compete. And it’s up to me to go out there and prove these guys wrong. That, ‘Hey, we are and I am a main card fighter.’ I think people are gonna be in for a very big surprise. And the UFC is gonna realize, ‘We messed up big time by not putting this on the main card.’”

Aljamain Sterling reacts to his fight against Movsar Evloev being placed on the #UFC310 prelims:

“I am a main card fighter… The UFC is gonna realize ‘we messed up big time by not putting this on the main card’.”

🎥 @funkmasterMMA #UFC #MMApic.twitter.com/StTUBWKCdY

— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) December 2, 2024

Sterling’s bantamweight title reign ended with a knockout loss against Sean O’Malley at UFC 292 last year. Sterling has since moved up to featherweight, scoring a dominant decision win over Calvin Kattar in his divisional debut at UFC 300 this past April.

Meanwhile, Evloev has been victorious in his first eight promotional appearances, the latest of which came against Arnold Allen at UFC 297 this past January.