Aljamain Sterling confident he can neutralize Ilia Topuria’s offense in future fight: “I’m making it a grappling match”

Aljamain Sterling is already eyeing a matchup with UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria.

‘El Matador’ returned to the octagon in the main event of UFC 308 over the weekend. Back for the first time since winning featherweight gold in February, Ilia Topuria faced Max Holloway. ‘Blessed’ earned the opportunity with a stunning fifth-round knockout win over Justin Gaethje in April. However, Topuria handed the Hawaiian a stoppage loss on Saturday.

The defeat was Max Holloway’s first career knockout loss. Speaking on a recent edition of his podcast, Aljamain Sterling reacted to Ilia Topuria’s first title defense. While ‘The Funk Master’ offered a lot of praise for the Georgian’s performance, he also opened up on a future fight against him.

Aljamain Sterling famously moved to featherweight in April, defeating Calvin Kattar at UFC 300. As of now, the former bantamweight champion is set to meet Movsar Evloev in December, at UFC 310. Sterling believes that a victory over the undefeated Russian could set the stage for a meeting with Ilia Topuria.

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🗣️🤔Aljamain Sterling breaks down his potential fight with Ilia Topuria:

“I do think I have a great style to neutralize his offense. Bro, almost all of these guys are striking wizards. Bro, I ain’t doing this s***. We’re sitting there [waiting to shoot for the] takedown; we’re… pic.twitter.com/nNaYPhlazX

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) October 28, 2024

Aljamain Sterling previews Ilia Topuria matchup following UFC 308 title defense

If the title fight comes to fruition, Aljamain Sterling is confident in his skills. While the former UFC champion has seen almost everyone stand and trade with Ilia Topuria, he won’t do that. On the podcast, Sterling admitted that he plans to make a fight with ‘El Matador’, a grappling match early.

“If I beat Movsar and I do get the crack, I do think I have a great style to neutralize his offense.” Aljamain Sterling stated, discussing Ilia Topuria’s victory at UFC 308. “Bro, almost all of these guys are striking with him. I’m not doing that, I’m not doing that. We’re sitting there looking for a takedown, and we’re making it into a grappling match. I’m trying to get the W.”

He continued, “I’m not trying to get my head and brain sent to the next dimension, I’m good on that. But, I think it’s cool that people were even mentioning that [fight]. That would be a crazy match for multiple reasons… But, I’ve got one tough opponent in front of me [right now], and we’ll go from there.”

What do you make of these comments from the former UFC champ? Do you want to see Ilia Topuria vs. Aljamain Sterling?