UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling is keeping a close eye on Saturday’s main event bout.
Aljamain Sterling is currently unavailable to fight due to a neck injury that he is recovering from. But just because he isn’t ready to get back in the Octagon doesn’t mean he can’t keep an eye on who might be next. The main event of this Saturday’s event between Cory Sandhagen and TJ Dillashaw could produce the next title contender.
Dillashaw is a former two-time bantamweight champion and due to his recently expired suspension has been turning heads in the media now that he is returning. If Dillashaw were to win, he could easily make a case for a title shot. For Sandhagen, however, it may not be that easy. Sterling spoke on his The Weekly Scraps Podcast about his thoughts on this subject.
“You beat T.J. Dillashaw, does that give you a title shot? I don’t know,” Sterling said vis MMA Junkie. “But if T.J. beats him, does that give T.J. a title shot? It should absolutely give T.J. a title shot. Absolutely. But in the sense of the other way that I’m looking at it, I don’t know what this win really does for Sandhagen other than getting another marquee name added to his resume.”
Sterling won the belt back in March by way of DQ. The nature of that win has made a rematch seemingly inevitable. If that is not next, of course, a fight with Dillashaw makes sense, but he would need a win first. As for Sandhagen, perhaps an enthusiastic call-out of the champion after a win over Dillashaw could help his case for a title shot in the near future.
Do you think Sandhagen would deserve a title shot with a win over former champion TJ Dillashaw?
