“You can’t hit what you can’t touch” – Aljamain Sterling promises Max Holloway-like performance against Calvin Kattar in 145-pound debut

For his debut in the UFC 300 featherweight division, Aljamain Sterling has established lofty goals and aspirations.

Despite having an illustrious career as a bantamweight, Sterling is set to enter the Octagon at 145 pounds for the first time to face off against Calvin Kattar on April 13. In the weeks leading up to the match, Sterling has been sharing glimpses of his training camp through his YouTube channel. On March 29, he even released a video analyzing his sparring session, where he expressed his desire to replicate Max Holloway’s impressive performance against Kattar.

According to Sterling, he stated:

“When I get my hands on Calvin, it’s gonna be a very [surprising performance]. A lot of people are saying that if O’Malley was able to put me out, what is a bigger guy gonna do that hits harder? I always say you can’t hit what you can’t touch, and I think that’s gonna be the name of the game. I’m gonna try to make it look as close to the Max Holloway fight as possible.”

Take a look at what Aljamain Sterling had to say:

In 2021, Holloway Sterling’s performance caught everyone’s attention when ‘Blessed’ broke his own record by landing 445 significant strikes on Kattar in five rounds. Although Holloway was unable to finish Kattar, he received a 50-43 scorecard from two judges and a 50-42 scorecard from the third, while also setting a new UFC record with 312 more significant strikes.

Sterling acknowledged that his striking abilities were not on par with Holloway’s, but he remained confident that his cardio and movement would improve in his next fight. This was due to not having to endure the intense weight cut down to 135 pounds, which he described as nearly fatal.

View the complete video from FunkMasterMMA on YouTube below:

The link to the video is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVvZV9rlCMk.

Aljamain Sterling’s journey to bantamweight success

According to Tapology, Aljamain Sterling, the former UFC bantamweight champion, will be making his featherweight debut in the UFC on April 13, though he has previously fought in this weight class. In his fourth professional fight, Sterling achieved a TKO victory over Evan Chmieleski in the division.

Sterling’s fight against Calvin Kattar at UFC 300 was his first and only bout at 145 pounds, which occurred while he was signed with the Cage Fury Fighting Championship. Prior to this fight, Sterling had competed for the promotion a total of five times.

‘The Funk Master’ made his UFC debut in 2014 as the CFFC bantamweight champion and dominated the division, ultimately claiming the undisputed championship at the highest level in 2021.

In December 2023, Sterling made a comeback at CFFC for a submission grappling match against Kevin Dantzler at Fury Pro Grappling. Despite a controversial decision, he ultimately lost the match.