Movsar Evloev is still undefeated after a high-paced grappling battle against former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling on the prelims of UFC 310.
The UFC-ranked top 10 matchup was one of the event’s most anticipated bouts, and it delivered with an exhausting pace of wrestling scrambles. After 15 minutes, Evloev (19-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) maintained his unblemished record by winning a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) over Sterling (24-5 MMA, 16-5 UFC).
Sterling looked to set the tone early with quick, darting strikes. In this matchup between fantastic grapplers, Sterling was also the first to shoot in to bring the fight to the mat, eventually finding his way to Evloev’s back near the fence. After getting lifted and returned to the mat, Evloev escaped to take top position for a few moments of offense.
A well-timed level change in the opening exchange scored a nice takedown for Sterling early in Round 2, but Evloev was able to scramble and reverse the position. Just when Evloev appeared settled in, Sterling exploded back to his feet. After exchanging punches, Evloev got the fight to the ground where more wild scrambles unfolded until the horn.
With the fight seemingly tied going into the final round, Sterling came out quickly again, bringing the fight to the canvas. Sterling landed another big slam, but with just under two minutes to go, Movsar Evloev reversed the position and maintained control while adding punches until the fight concluded.
100% sweep used by Evloev to put Aljo to his back pic.twitter.com/JO2i20FilM
— Josie Aldo (@JosieAldoMMA) December 8, 2024
During his post-fight interview, Movsar Evloev, 30, said he hoped the win would be enough to earn a title shot. He entered with wins over top names such as Dan Ige, Diego Lopes and Arnold Allen. Sterling, 35, suffers his first defeat at 145 pounds.