Aljamain Sterling knows who he wants to fight next. Sterling defeated Jimmie Rivera on the UFC Phoenix prelims featured bout last night (Sun. February 17, 2019). “Funk Master” defeated Rivera via unanimous decision. He has now racked up three straight victories after wins over Brett Johns, Cody Stamann, and now Rivera. Speaking to media after his victory in Phoenix, Sterling said he’d like to “humble” former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt (via MMA Junkie):
“You’ve got Cody Garbrandt, he’s fighting Pedro Munhoz,” Sterling said. “That’s another mother(expletive) who’s been talking a hell of a lot of (expletive). I lost to (Bryan) Caraway, and there’s nothing worse than a man who’s riding high on his horse and kicking a man when he’s down.
“That was the first loss of my career and he made sure to stick the stake in my heart and keep kicking that (expletive) in, so I’m glad karma came back and humbled him twice over. So if he comes out with the win, it’d be nice to do it for a third time.”
“No Love” is currently slated to return to the Octagon on March 2nd. He’ll face Pedro Munhoz at the UFC 235 pay-per-view (PPV) from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Garbradnt comes off the first back-to-back defeats of his fighting career. TJ Dillashaw knocked him out in both their meetings at UFC 217 and 227.
Dillashaw dethroned Garbrandt from the 135-pound throne in November of 2017 with a second-round knockout. They rematched this past August, only for Dillashaw to finish Garbradnt even quicker, in the first round. Garbradnt is hoping for a big win over Munhoz in March, before zeroing in on his bantamweight belt again.
Would you like to see Sterling matched-up against Garbrandt?
