Aljamain Sterling says he’ll move up to featherweight if Merab Dvalishvili wins his next fight
Aljamain Sterling may only have one more fight at bantamweight.
Sterling, who’s the current bantamweight champion, is expected to face TJ Dillashaw next as he looks to defend his bantamweight title for the second time. Although he just became the champ in 2021, his time as champ may be short-lived due to his teammate, Merab Dvalishvili moving up the bantamweight ranks.
Both Sterling and Dvalishvili have made it clear they have no intention of fighting one another. With that, if Dvalishvili wins his next fight and becomes the next title contender, Sterling says he will vacate his belt so his friend and teammate can fight for the belt.
After Merab’s next win, I will probably have to move up, to allow him his chance that he earned, to make history for Georgia 🇬🇪 to win a world title. We will figure it out. https://t.co/buDwgCSObs
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) May 31, 2022
“After Merab’s next win, I will probably have to move up, to allow him his chance that he earned, to make history for Georgia to win a world title. We will figure it out,” Sterling wrote on Twitter.
Sterling and Dvalishvili have been close friends and teammates for years now and we have seen teammates be reluctant to fight each other in the past, even for the world title. But, before that even becomes a possibility, Sterling has laid out the game plan of what he and Dvalishvili will do.
Aljamain Sterling (21-3) is coming off the split decision win over Petr Yan to defend his belt after winning the belt against Yan as the Russian threw an illegal knee. Sterling is currently on a seven-fight win streak and during this run holds notable wins over Cory Sandhagen, Pedro Munhoz, and Jimmie Rivera among others.
Merab Dvalishvili (14-4) has not fought since UFC 266 when he scored a TKO win over Marlon Moraes to extend his win streak to seven as he has beaten the likes of John Dodson, Cody Stamann, and Casey Kenney during this run. He’s currently sixth at bantamweight and does not have his next fight booked.
