Aljamain Sterling Calls Out Diego Lopes for UFC 306 Clash at The Sphere

Aljamain Sterling is latest featherweight to rally for a slot at UFC 306 in September at The Sphere in Las Vegas.

Sterling scored a unanimous decision win over Calvin Kattar in his featherweight debut at UFC 300 this past April. The former bantamweight champ has since been teasing a potential clash against Movsar Evloev . While both parties initially expressed interest in the matchup, that seems to have fizzled out now.

While Evloev has accused Sterling of ducking him, “Funkmaster” claims the undefeated Russian is unwilling to accept his terms. Sterling has now redirected focus to streaking Brazilian Diego Lopesfor a clash at UFC 306 on Sept. 14.

“I’m thinking about Aljamain Sterling vs. Diego Lopes at the Sphere. It has a nice ring to it,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel. “Movsar [Evloev], I don’t know what the hell he’s doing. I gave him a date and he hasn’t accepted yet, started making all these excuses. So, either you wanna fight on my terms or I go fight somebody else. So, Diego Lopes if you oblige, let’s make it happen at the Sphere, Sept. 14. Let’s get it.”

Meanwhile, Evloev has also called for a rematch against Lopes while accusing Sterling of “running for his life.”

“Either you’re a lying charlatan or you can’t read. Neither one is good mi bredda,” Sterling wrote in response on X.



Lopes, who dropped a valiant unanimous decision against Evloev in his short-notice UFC debut last year, doesn’t appear interested in the rematch. Having previously been turned down for a rematch by Evloev, Lopes claims the Russian is only using his name for clout now.



Lopes scored a unanimous decision win over Dan Ige at UFC 303 on June 29, accepting the new opponent and weight class on hours’ notice after Brian Ortega pulled out of the event. Both Lopes and Ige subsequently called for a slot at UFC 306 which Dana White readily accepted. Lopes has since called for a rebooking against Ortega or a matchup against Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 306.