{"id":6287,"date":"2026-04-26T09:35:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T09:35:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/04\/26\/aljamain-sterling-calls-for-featherweight-title-shot-after-ufc-116-win\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T09:35:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T09:35:33","slug":"aljamain-sterling-calls-for-featherweight-title-shot-after-ufc-116-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/04\/26\/aljamain-sterling-calls-for-featherweight-title-shot-after-ufc-116-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Aljamain Sterling calls for featherweight title shot after UFC 116 win"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>Sterling wants a featherweight title shot against Volkanovski after a unanimous win over Zalal in Las Vegas.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>After nearly two full slow-paced rounds, former Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling recorded a decision win over Youssef Zalal in the UFC Vegas 116 main event.<\/p>\n<p>Sterling found an opening with less than a minute left in the second round and secured a 49-45, 49-45, 49-45 unanimous decision across 25 minutes in the fight on Saturday. He had several submission attempts, including a fourth-round rear-naked choke opportunity in the closing minutes.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 3 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/2\/1\/volkanovski-wins-featherweight-title-defence-against-lopes-at-ufc-325\">UFC 325: Volkanovski dominates Lopes, defends featherweight title<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/2\/24\/floyd-mayweather-and-manny-pacquiao-agree-to-fight-rematch-in-september\">Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao agree to fight rematch in September<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/3\/22\/evloev-upsets-murphy-sets-up-featherweight-title-shot-against-volkanovski\">UFC Fight Night 270: Evloev edges Murphy, sets up featherweight title shot<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>The American fighter, who has a 26-5 mixed martial arts (MMA) and 18-5 UFC record, was comfortable in all areas against his former training partner, but his objective for the rest of his career is simple: the UFC featherweight title currently held by Alexander Volkanovski.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cVolkanovski, you know I\u2019m coming,\u201d Sterling said after his win, calling for a title shot.<\/p>\n<p>Zalal, with an 18-6-1 MMA and 8-4-1 UFC record, was classy in defeat.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve come back before, and I\u2019ll come back again,\u201d Zalal said, crediting Sterling\u2019s efforts.<\/p>\n<p>Sterling snapped Zalal\u2019s eight-fight unbeaten streak, predicting that with a bit more five-round experience, the Moroccan competitor will find himself fighting for a championship.<\/p>\n<p>The co-main event saw UFC women\u2019s bantamweight contender Joselyne Edwards of Panama move a step closer to a title shot with a unanimous decision victory over Brazil\u2019s Norma Dumont, sweeping the scorecards 29-28, 29-28, 30-27.<\/p>\n<p>Edwards (18-6 MMA, 9-4 UFC) had little trouble with Dumont (13-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC), extending her win streak to five. Dumont fell just short of a four-year unbeaten run, having won her previous six outings before taking her first loss since May 7, 2022.<\/p>\n<p>In the lightweight division, Rafa Garcia of Mexico halted Alexander Hernandez\u2019s four-fight winning streak, earning a unanimous decision 29-28, 29-28, 30-27. Garcia (19-4 MMA, 7-4 UFC) has won three in a row, keeping the fight on the feet, taking Hernandez\u2019s best punches while giving back his own at a much higher rate. Hernandez (18-9 MMA, 10-8 UFC) had not lost since April 6, 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Bantamweight Davey Grant of England earned a unanimous decision against UFC debutant Adrian Luna Martinetti, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28, in an entertaining all-around affair. Grant (18-8 MMA, 9-7 UFC) has won five of his last seven fights, while Luna Martinetti (17-2 MMA), who hails from Ecuador, has not lost since September 20, 2017.<\/p>\n<p>At bantamweight, Brazil\u2019s Raoni Barcelos squeaked out a split-decision win against Montel Jackson, taking two of the three judges\u2019 scorecards, 29-28, 28-29, 29-28. Barcelos (22-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC) extended his winning streak to five, dating back to February 24, 2024. On the other side, Jackson (15-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC) has lost back-to-back fights since his six-fight winning streak, which spanned March 2021 until last October.<\/p>\n<p>Heavyweight Ryan Spann delivered a blitzing right hand to send Brazilian Marcus Buchecha to the canvas, finishing the fight by knockout at 2:10 of the second round to open the UFC Vegas 116 six-fight main card with what became the only finish. Spann (24-11 MMA, 10-6 UFC) has won back-to-back fights and three of his last four. Buchecha (5-3-1 MMA, 0-2-1 UFC), a seasoned grappler, remains winless in the promotion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sterling wants a featherweight title shot against Volkanovski after a unanimous win over Zalal in Las Vegas. After nearly two full slow-paced rounds, former Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling recorded a decision win over Youssef Zalal in the UFC Vegas 116 main event. Sterling found an opening with less than a minute left &#8230; <a title=\"Aljamain Sterling calls for featherweight title shot after UFC 116 win\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/04\/26\/aljamain-sterling-calls-for-featherweight-title-shot-after-ufc-116-win\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Aljamain Sterling calls for featherweight title shot after UFC 116 win\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6288,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}