Aljamain Sterling Backs Josh Emmett For Title Shot After UFC Austin Win: ‘He’s Gotta Be A Shoo-In’
Undisputed UFC bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling has backed UFC Austin main event victor, Josh Emmett to possibly land a featherweight title shot off the back of his close, split decision (47-48, 48-47, 48-47) win against Calvin Kattar over the weekend, insisting the Sacramento native may have struck gold with the timing of his victory.
Headlining the Moody Center event in the ‘Lone Star State’, Emmett managed to squeak out a close, split decision against Kattar, surviving a late fourth and fifth round rally from the Massachusetts native en route to his fifth consecutive win.
Following the judging success, Emmett called for a title shot of his own – insisting that he wants to be present front row for next weekend’s UFC 276 co-headliner between featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski, and former titleholder, Max Holloway’s trilogy title fight.
“I got one more thing to say, there’s a huge title fight in two weeks,” Josh Emmett said during his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier. “I want to be sitting cagseside to see who I’m fighting next. Dana (White), give me my shot. (Max) Holloway and (Alexander) Volkanovski are arguably some of the best featherweights of all time. So much respect for them but they need some new blood in the division, and I can get it done.”
Aljamain Sterling backs Josh Emmett to potentially land a title challenge
Receiving backing from bantamweight champion, Sterling, the Uniondale native theorized that the timing regarding Emmett’s victory over Kattar may aline him for his premier title shot during his Octagon stint.
“(Josh) Emmett, tough dude, I mean, I do think him getting the next shot – split decision, but I still think he’s the guy that’s right there,” Aljamain Sterling said of Josh Emmett on his YouTube channel. “Zabit (Magomedsharipov) just retired, so I don’t know who else would be in that title conversation after Max Holloway (vs.) Alexander Volkanovski 3. It’s a very tricky situation for the featherweight division. …”
“I don’t know what’s going to happen next, but I think Emmett has to be a shoo-in for the next title shot, just in my personal opinion,” Aljamain Sterling explained. “I don’t think that was his best performance, but then what is a best performance in comparison to fighting one of the top guys in the world, you know.”
