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Aljamain Sterling has humble reason for why he would ‘absolutely not’ have taken Jean Silva fight at Noche UFC

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3 weeks ago

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Aljamain Sterling has humble reason for why he would ‘absolutely not’ have taken Jean Silva fight at Noche UFC

Aljamain Sterling knows his limits.

The former UFC bantamweight champion and current featherweight contender used his podcast to address a rumor that he was in talks to fight Jean Silva at Noche UFC on Sept. 12. Silva was originally scheduled to face Yair Rodriguez in the headlining bout of the card, but Rodriguez withdrew due to injury and was promptly replaced by Jose Miguel Delgado.

According to Sterling, had the matchmakers come to him with the Noche UFC main event offer, he would have had a very good reason to say.

“If I was offered Jean Silva, I would have looked them straight in the eyes and said, ‘You know what? I will absolutely not take that f*cking fight,'†Sterling said.

“If I were to go in the shape that I'm in right now, it's definitely not,†he added. “Because I would be on the ground wheezing for air, and I am not afraid to admit it. I just got back from Serbia and Albania, you think I'm freaking in fight shape ready to do five rounds on short notice? Hell no. Give me a training camp.â€

Sterling suggested he might have considered a three-round bout on short notice, especially if it came with a substantial payday, but he'd be more open to fighting Silva at a later date. Given that Silva is currently in the thick of the featherweight contender conversation, Sterling thinks a fight with him makes more sense than some of the other options in the top 10.

“No, I never got offered to fight,†Sterling said. “I would rather have taken a full camp. If they were to say we'd move Jean Silva to another date with you, then I'll take the fight. It would make sense. It's more appealing than a guy who was ranked 13 and they just magically bumped him up to 12.

“Again, if [Aaron] Pico beats Arnold Allen, then I'll fight the winner. I'll fight Pico. If Arnold Allen wins, I'd rather fight Arnold Allen, someone with an established name and he's coming off another win. So that's a fight I can wake up in the morning for and get excited.â€

Pico fights Allen at UFC 333 on Oct. 24. The former Bellator star has also been a rumored opponent for Sterling, but Sterling doesn't currently see the upside in taking on a fighter with a 1-1 UFC record.

Rather, Sterling has been biding his time with side projects as he gears up for his next fight, one that he hopes has higher stakes than a short-notice call.

“I'm just the guy stuck in limbo and hopefully the pieces, knock on wood, they fall into place,†Sterling said. “All I could do is do my part, get into shape, so if the opportunity does present itself, I'll be ready. But right now giving me a short-notice fight on two weeks' notice would just be asinine, especially for me, I've been partying and pushing my rum company, because that's what I've got to do in the downtime. But now that's on pause. We're still pushing the company, but I took a step back from being the lead and running point at all the activations and stuff, so now we're in fight mode.

“We're ready to go, getting into shape, and sure enough, give me two more weeks, I'll be able to bang out three rounds, easy. Then give me two more weeks after that and I'll be in five-round shape.â€

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MMA

Brian Ortega out of UFC 331; Renato Moicano gets new opponent

Published

24 minutes ago

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September 15, 2026

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Brian Ortega out of UFC 331; Renato Moicano gets new opponent
Renato
“Money†Moicano vs. Brian
Ortega is no longer part of the upcoming
Ultimate Fighting Championship numbered event.

Ortega has suffered an injury, forcing the cancellation of the bout
scheduled for UFC
331 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sept. 19. While
“T-City†nurses his injury, Moicano has a new matchup and will now
headline a Fight Night in Las Vegas in October.

Brian Ortega's injury cancels Moicano fight before UFC 331

After his bout with Ortega was pulled from UFC 331, Moicano's next
opponent was announced. The Brazilian is now set to face Tom Nolan in
the main event of the
UFC Fight Night card on Oct. 31 at Meta Apex in Las Vegas.

Ortega took to social media to reveal details of his injury. A deep
cut has forced him out of his UFC lightweight debut and he had to
get stitches above his left eye.

“I have to pull out of the fight because of the stitches in my
eye,†Ortega wrote on Instagram. “I'm on weight, I've been training
my *ss off, and this has honestly been one of the best camps I've
ever had.â€

UFC 331 now has 12 fights on deck, with Gable
Steveson vs. Sean Sharaf
now opening the main card. Joshua Van
vs. Alexandre
Pantoja 2 headlines UFC 331, with Van defending the UFC
flyweight championship against the former champ in a rematch after
an anticlimactic ending to their first meeting, in which Pantoja
suffered an early arm injury.


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MMA

Jonathan Haggerty sets sights on Hiroki Akimoto after watching brother win

Published

4 hours ago

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September 14, 2026

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Jonathan Haggerty sets sights on Hiroki Akimoto after watching brother win
Trending:

Mike Perry speaks out after suffering injury during upset loss to Brandon Jenkins: “Health is wealthâ€
ONE Championship

Jonathan Haggerty spent last Friday watching someone else fight. Next month marks his own turn again, and the stakes are considerably higher for the reigning bantamweight kickboxing king.

Jonathan Haggerty defends his ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Championship against former divisional king Hiroki Akimoto in the main event of ONE SAMURAI 4 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan, on Saturday, October 17.

The assignment comes after Haggerty watched his brother, Freddie Haggerty, grind out a unanimous decision over Rungruanglek TN Muaythai at The Inner Circle 30 in Bangkok's Lumpinee Stadium, a result that pushed Freddie's record to 25-5 and snapped Rungruanglek's five-fight winning streak. Freddie dropped Rungruanglek twice across the opening two rounds before closing the fight out on the back foot with sharp counters.

“It was a great performance. It was pushing for the stoppage, but we didn't get it,†Jonathan said. “It's all love; it's a learning curve. In this sport, you can never stop learning, so we'll go back to the drawing board.â€

Jonathan Haggerty predicts fireworks against Akimoto

Watching his brother's disciplined performance seemed to sharpen Jonathan's own approach heading into his title defense. He has never been one to shy away from bold declarations before a fight, and this time is no different.

The 29-year-old Englishman has spent a run spanning multiple weight classes and two disciplines building toward this kind of stage, defending gold on home soil in Japan against a fighter who once held the very title he now carries.

“I'm more than ready. Fans can expect fireworks, explosiveness, and a knockout.

“Thank you so much for always supporting me for years now. You guys are a big part of ONE Championship. Fans pick you up when you're down. They make you positive. That extra bit of motivation just spurs you on.â€

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM

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MMA

Scott Coker reveals new name for MMA organization, launch plans and details for Grand Prix in 2027

Published

7 hours ago

on

September 14, 2026

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Scott Coker reveals new name for MMA organization, launch plans and details for Grand Prix in 2027

Scott Coker is officially back in MMA with a new promotion launching in 2027.

On Tuesday, the veteran promoter behind Strikeforce and Bellator MMA announced plans for his new organization — Ki MMA (pronounced Key MMA) — with plans to officially launch early next year. He'll be joined on the new venture by veteran matchmaker Rich Chou, who previously worked with Coker at Strikeforce and Bellator.

As part of Ki MMA, the first major announcement was plans for a Grand Prix tournament featuring 32 fighters from across the globe with events expected to take place on four different continents.

The plan is for the tournament to take place in one weight class for the 32 fighters participating. The first weight class to be featured is 145 pounds/featherweights.

The fights are also expected to take place in a ring rather than a cage, which is a departure from most other major MMA promotions.

More details to come from the press conference announcing Coker's new Ki MMA promotion.

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