Aljamain Sterling accuses Movsar Evloev of taking performance enhancing drugs ahead of their fight at #UFC307:
“From what I’ve heard through the grapevine, he’s not a clean athlete…people can say whatever, you have no proof, I’m like dude same thing people were saying… pic.twitter.com/ssqgAXfp64
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) September 2, 2024
Aljamain Sterling claims to have heard some potentially damning rumors about upcoming opponent Movsar Evloev.
Sterling is scheduled to fight the undefeated Russian at UFC 307 on Oct. 5 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. The former bantamweight champ recently hurled serious allegations of PED use against Evloev, who strongly denied them while issuing a stern warning.
Don’t be scared boy, I’ll make it quick. You won’t feel a thing. https://t.co/4rMa3K1l9r
— Movsar Evloev (@MovsarUFC) August 23, 2024
You can talk now, but you’ll be silent after the fight. Accusing without evidence is your coping mechanism when you lose. #Oscar #Actor https://t.co/WqQqlNLfyB
— Movsar Evloev (@MovsarUFC) August 24, 2024
Where I’m from, making false accusations like that won’t go well for you. But I’ll be a businessman—I’ll punish you and get paid for it. Just don’t pull out. #ufc307 #Oscar #actor https://t.co/72IpRTLMpk
— Movsar Evloev (@MovsarUFC) August 25, 2024
Evloev also uploaded a picture of apparent urine samples, hinting at a visit from the UFC’s anti-doping partner, Drug Free Sport International.
Your friends stopped by after you started complaining, but it won’t help you! What’s your next excuse? @funkmasterMMA #Oscar #actor pic.twitter.com/KxicV3LYkc
— Movsar Evloev (@MovsarUFC) August 25, 2024
However, that didn’t stop Sterling from more recently doubling down on his allegations. “Funkmaster” claims the rumors he heard about Evloev through the grapevine can be compared to those about former bantamweight champ T.J. Dillashaw before he was caught. While Dillashaw’s former teammate Cody Garbrandt had been accusing him of teaching PED use to the whole Team Alpha Male for years, no one paid much heed until he was finally caught in 2019. Sterling is similarly confident about Evloev being on PEDs, regardless of whether the Russian tests positive at some point.
“From what I’ve heard through the grapevine, he’s not a clean athlete…People can say whatever, you have no proof,” Sterling told Home of Fight. “I’m like, ‘Dude same thing people were saying about T.J. Dillashaw from years ago and teaching people how to do it, Cody Garbrandt calling him out at the press conference, and everyone sweeping it under the rug, telling T.J. direct to his face that you taught everyone at the gym how to do it.’ Those conversations are not very different from what I’ve had about Movsar and I think where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Do I have any hard evidence, like did I see the guy stick a needle up his ass, no. Did he pop for anything yet, no. Maybe he never will. But at the end of the day, only him and his consciousness will know if he’s truly a clean athlete. I really do believe he knows he’s cheated.”
However, the alleged PED use won’t stop Sterling from fighting Evloev at UFC 307. Sterling claims to have fought multiple opponents previously who were on banned substances even if they didn’t get caught. While “Funkmaster” is game enough to take any fight, he claims it’s just his modus operandi to call out his opponents for allegedly using unfair means.
“It is what it is. I am gonna fight him,” Sterling said. “I’ve fought multiple guys who’ve done stuff, whether or not they got caught. And it’s just what it is. I’m a gamer. I just like to let them know, ‘I know what you’re doing.’ And it has nothing to do with making excuses. I’m just calling a spade a spade. If people want to call that an excuse, dude, I’m gonna fight the guy whether I talked about it before or not. People get popped. I call them out and that’s been a long running history of me. That’s why I don’t take anything unless it’s third-party certified.”
