Aljamain Sterling has been forced to pull out of a proposed featherweight booking against Movsar Evloev at UFC 307.
The ex-bantamweight champion announced the news via YouTube on Wednesday.
“Unfortunately, I have to break the news I will not be competing in Salt Lake City at UFC 307,” Sterling said. “In sparring, I had an injury not requiring surgery, but I was advised by the UFC medical staff that I will not be able to properly compete in this short of a turnaround.
“I did the stem cells. I took time off. I tried to rehab it as much as I can, as best as I can with the [UFC Performance Institute] team here, and unfortunately, it’s out of my hands now. I apologize to Movsar and his team. We’ve been talking and I was really looking forward to punching this guy in his face.”
While Sterling did not specify the nature of the injury, MMAFighting.com is reporting that an elbow issue caused “Funkmaster” to withdraw from the event. Sterling proposed that Evloev wait until later this year for the UFC to rebook their fight.
“Movsar, if you still really want to punch this handsome face, I put the challenge out to you to push the fight back and wait,” Sterling said. “Wait for daddy. I will be back soon. Possibly do this in December. That’s pretty much all I got.
“If you decide not to wait, I can respect that also because you’re trying to fight for a belt, as am I. The only way to do that is to go through each other.”
Evloev, however, would prefer to remain on the Oct. 7 card against a replacement opponent if possible.
“I see Aljamain announced on his YouTube channel that he is out of the fight,” Evloev wrote on X. “I’ve been training for [four] months and would like to stay on this card and fight anybody, I’m not sure if the UFC can find someone to fight me but I worked really hard for this fight.”
I see Aljamain announced on his YouTube channel that he is out of the fight. I’ve been training for 4 months and would like to stay on this card and fight anybody, I’m not sure if the UFC can find someone to fight me but I worked really hard for this fight
— Movsar Evloev (@MovsarUFC) September 18, 2024
Sterling made his 145-pound debut at UFC 300, where he took a unanimous decision against Calvin Kattar on April 13.
Evloev is undefeated in 18 professional outings, including eight consecutive decision victories in UFC competition. The 30-year-old Russian is coming off a three-round verdict over Arnold Allen at UFC 297.
