LAS VEGAS – After a successful UFC featherweight debut, Aljamain Sterling is ready to rise to the top of the division.
Sterling (24-4 MMA, 16-4 UFC) called out former title challenger and perennial favorite Brian Ortega after his win at UFC 300 on Saturday. Sterling defeated Calvin Kattar (23-8 MMA, 7-6 UFC) with a dominant victory. He earned a decision win in the qualifying portion of the event and is ready to take the next step toward a UFC gold medal.
“Give me the next best guy,” Sterling said in the UFC 300 post-fight press conference. “I treat Brian Ortega with respect. He's a guy I trained with once, we have the same management, there's no bad pedigree or anything like that. We both do the same thing. I'm just chasing him. He's not my main training partner like Merab. It's a different situation.
“I think I beat a guy like him, and I can't deny that.”
Ortega is coming off a submission victory over Yair Rodriguez in February. It was his first return game since his shoulder injury. Sterling was impressed with Ortega's resilience in this fight and liked how their match was unfolding.
As for his debut win at 145 pounds, Sterling got the job done, but he wasn't completely satisfied. He believes there is a lot of room for improvement.
“I was a little bit down on myself with this performance, because if you want to beat a guy like Ilya, you have to beat a guy like Kattar,” Sterling said. “He was well prepared to defend things on the ground, but I was a little sad about that. I thought, 'If I can't do certain things to him, How on earth are you going to do anything to a guy like that?'' If I wanted to challenge for a world title again. That's how I see things. ”
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