UFC 300 saw it’s first few fights announced this evening and we have some bangers. Dana White took to X this evening to announce multiple big time fights. One of the fights he announced is one that’s been teased for weeks. Former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling (23-4) is officially moving up to featherweight to face Calvin Kattar (23-7).
Starting with Kattar, this will be his first fight since October 2022. The last time we saw Kattar in the octagon, he was facing off against Arnold Allen in a main event. Unfortunately for Kattar, he suffered a serious knee injury in the fight and that injury required surgery which has kept him on the shelf.
Prior to that injury loss to Allen, Kattar had lost a close split decision against Josh Emmett. Before that, he had a statement win against Giga Chikadze where he just brutalized him for five rounds. He promises to be a very tough first featherweight challenge for the former UFC bantamweight champion.
UFC 300
Aljamain Sterling made the walk back in August at UFC 292 looking to successfully defend his bantamweight title for the fourth time. Had he won that fight, Sterling said that he had aspirations to move up to featherweight and challenge Alexander Volkanovski for the featherweight title.
Unfortunately for The Funk Master, Sean O’Malley knocked him out in the second round which snapped his title reign and nine-fight winning streak. Originally, Sterling wanted a rematch with O’Malley, but when the promotion indicated they’d be going in a different direction, Sterling decided he wanted to go ahead and make the jump to featherweight.
This is a nice first test for the former champion. He’s getting a game opponent and he gets to compete on the historic UFC 300 card. I think this is a win for the former bantamweight champ all things considered.