UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski thinks a fight with bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling would be a hard sell after UFC 288.
Sterling edged out Henry Cejudo by split decision in this past Saturday’s headliner at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. Prior to the fight, both Sterling and Cejudo mapped out a plan to fight Sean O’Malley if victorious, then move up a weight class to challenge featherweight champ Volkanovski.
But after watching Sterling (23-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) squeak past Cejudo (16-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC), Volkanovski isn’t too excited about the matchup.
“I think you have to give it to Sterling,” Volkanovski said on his YouTube channel. “Just don’t call me out, lads. Get a bigger win and call me out next one.”
Volkanovski (25-2 MMA, 12-1 UFC) agreed with the decision but doesn’t see UFC fans clamoring for a fight between him and Sterling either. “The Funkmaster” stuck to his original plans by calling O’Malley into the octagon as they faced off to set up his next title defense.
“We weren’t surprised that Sterling got that decision,” Volkanovski said. “Definitely no robbery or anything like that. I’m glad he didn’t call me out after that fight. Again, though, any fight excites me if people want it. But you want people to have big wins. You want people to want the fight. It’s hard to say people want the fight straight after some fights.”
After falling short in his quest to become double champion against lightweight champ Islam Makhachev at UFC 284, Volkanovski is expected to unify his belt with interim champ Yair Rodriguez at UFC 290 on July 8 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 288.
